fcibrarjp  of  Che  Cheolo^tcal  ^eminarjp 

PRINCETON  •  NEW  JERSEY 

PRESENTED  BY 

John  Stuart  Conning,  D.D. 

DS  143  . P4760  1915 
Peters,  Madison  Clinton, 
1859-1918. 

Justice  to  the  Jew 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  J 


THE  STORY  OF  WHAT  HE  HAS  DONE 
FOR  THE  WORLD 


BY 


MADISON  C.  PETERS 


NEW  AND  REVISED  EDITION 


NEW  YORK 

BLOCH  PUBLISHING  CO. 
1915 


Copyright,  1 908,  by  The  McClure  Company 
Copyright,  19/5,  by  Bloch  Publishing  Company 


PREFACE 

It  is  eleven  years  since  the  first  edition  of  “  Justice 
to  the  Jew  ”  was  given  to  the  public.  The  book  met 
with  a  success  far  beyond  any  anticipation  of  the 
author,  who,  nevertheless,  was  well  aware  of  its  many 
imperfections,  which  seemed  to  accusingly  stare  at 
him  from  almost  every  page.  Though  written  with  a 
very  definite  purpose  in  view,  it  was  composed  very 
hurriedly  in  the  white  heat  of  a  busy  pastorate,  and 
besides,  the  materials  on  which  to  build  such  a  work 
were  far  from  being  as  plentiful  then  as  now.  The 
facts  needed  were  scattered  and  had  to  be  picked 
out  from  forgotten  tomes  and  musty  manuscripts 
buried  in  the  obscurity  of  libraries  and  private  col¬ 
lections.  To  gather  a  sufficiency  was  no  small  task, 
and  when  gathered,  to  chronologically  collate  it  was 
almost  as  difficult,  but  as  it  was  a  labour  of  love  with 
the  author,  who  brought  to  his  researches  the  en¬ 
thusiasm  and  belief  that  he  was  working  for  a  good 
cause,  the  drudgery  was  materially  lightened. 

[v] 


PREFACE 


Though  the  author  has  written  much  and  spoken 
more  in  behalf  of  the  Jew,  he  is  not  a  Jew,  but  on  the 
contrary  is  descended  from  an  ancestry  inimical  to 
Israel,  a  people  who  carried  down  with  them  through 
the  years  the  senseless  prejudice  and  foolish  hatred 
of  their  forefathers.  His  ancestors  came  to  America 
from  Germany  one  hundred  and  fifty  years  ago,  and 
it  would  be  false  for  him  to  assert  that  Germany  has 
ever  shown  any  love  to  the  children  of  Abraham ;  he 
has  to  admit  that  she  has  ever  been  in  the  vanguard 
of  their  persecutors.  Only  within  the  last  few  decades 
of  the  nineteenth  century  did  Jews  get  an  oppor¬ 
tunity  to  prove  their  worth  in  Germany.  Therefore, 
as  a  boy  among  the  Pennsylvania  Germans,  the  au¬ 
thor  of  this  book  drank  in  the  absurd  prejudice  and 
blind  bigotry  displayed  towards  the  Jew,  but  as  he 
grew  to  manhood  and  studied  the  histories  of  men 
and  the  accomplishments  of  the  children  of  men, 
his  views  in  regard  to  the  Jews  underwent  a  radi¬ 
cal  change.  His  personal  contact  and  observation 
strengthened  and  confirmed  what  he  had  read.  Hence 
he  resolved  that  he  would  do  his  part  to  dispel  the 
clouds  of  ignorance,  misconception,  and  bigotry 
which  obscured  the  Jew  and  placed  him  in  such  a 
sinister  light.  He  would  endeavour  to  the  best  of 
his  ability  to  put  the  Jew  on  his  proper  pedestal,  so 

[Ti] 


PREFACE 


that  the  world  could  view  him  as  he  was  and  is,  not 
as  represented  by  maligners,  traducers,  and  calum¬ 
niators  ;  especially  was  it  his  desire  to  speak  a  word 
for  justice  to  the  Jew  in  free  America,  the  land  that 
has  never  closed  her  doors  in  the  face  of  the  perse¬ 
cuted,  the  oppressed,  the  down-trodden,  no  matter 
at  what  altar  they  bent  the  knee  to  adore  their  God. 

The  Jews  were  rapidly  becoming  a  part  of  the  na¬ 
tional  and  social  life  of  the  country,  and  the  time 
was  ripe  for  all  to  know  them.  The  author  had  de¬ 
livered  some  popular  (rather  unpopular)  addresses 
on  the  world’s  indebtedness  to  the  Jews  which  were 
widely  published  and  translated  into  many  European 
languages,  and  the  spoken  words,  impassioned  and 
sometimes  impetuous,  formed  the  nucleus  of  the  book 
which  became  more  enlarged  than  at  first  intended. 
The  reception  extended  to  the  work  both  by  Jews 
and  Christians  was  cordial,  but  the  author  was  fully 
conscious  of  its  defects.  He  had  the  plates  destroyed 
after  the  first  two  years  and  began  writing  a  series 
of  books  along  similar  lines,  and  although  these  were 
well  received,  the  old  title  of  tc  Justice  to  the  Jew” 
more  forcibly  appealed  to  the  people;  therefore,  to 
satisfy  the  public  demand  the  author  undertook  to 
rewrite  the  book.  He  now  sends  it  forth  upon  the 
world  in  its  new  dress,  the  only  old  thing  about  it 


PREFACE 


being  the  title,  and  it  is  to  be  hoped  the  reader  will 
find  it  more  interesting  and  instructive  than  when 
it  first  appeared.  No  pains  or  time  have  been  spared 
to  make  the  information  absolutely  trustworthy,  so 
that  it  may  be  used  as  a  reference  book  as  well  as 
a  handy  repository  of  historical  data  and  interesting 
facts.  Space  will  not  permit  even  mention  of  the 
many  works  consulted  in  its  compilation ;  the  cream 
of  the  libraries,  however,  has  been  skimmed  and  this, 
with  matter  not  accessible  to  the  ordinary  student  of 
Jewish  history,  has  been  blended  in  such  a  way  that 
the  mixture  may  be  taken  as  entirely  wholesome  and 
trustworthy. 

Words  and  allusions  obscure  to  the  general  reader 
have  been  explained  in  the  text,  and  there  are  many 
facts  given  for  the  first  time  which,  no  doubt,  will  be 
strange  to  the  majority  of  Jews  as  well  as  to  the 
Gentiles. 

We  speak  of  non-Jews  as  Gentiles  (in  Hebrew 
phraseology  Gentiles  were  all  the  nations  or  peoples 
besides  the  Jews)  because  their  treatment  of  the  Jews 
makes  Christian  a  misnomer.  Indeed  the  word  “  Chris¬ 
tian  99  in  many  places  in  this  work  must  be  understood 
generically,  and  not  taken  in  the  sense  of  one  who 
possesses  the  spirit  and  follows  the  teachings  of  Him 
who  gave  the  word  its  origin. 


PREFACE 


Various  are  the  names  by  which  Jews  are  known. 
The  Bible  calls  them  “  the  people  of  God.”  Mordecai 
said:  “For  he  had  told  him  that  he  was  a  Jew.” 
From  the  time  of  Babylon  and  the  Great  Dispersion 
the  descendants  of  the  patriarchs  have  been  called 
Jews  ( Jehudim )  or  descendants  of  Judah.  Jonah 
said:  “  I  am  a  Hebrew.”  Hebrew  is  derived  from  Ibri, 
meaning  the  other  side  of  the  Euphrates,  or  from 
Eber ,  the  great-grandson  of  Shem.  Elijah  said: 
“  Israel  shall  thy  name  be.”  Israel  {prince  or  pre- 
vailer  with  God)  in  commemoration  of  Jacob’s  con¬ 
flict  of  faith  with  the  heavenly  messenger  at  Peniel. 

If  what  is  written  in  this  book  will  essentially 
modify  the  views  which  the  Gentile  world  holds  with 
regard  to  the  position  of  the  Jew,  and  will  lead  Chris¬ 
tians  to  grant  to  him  the  possession  of  the  mental, 
moral,  and  spiritual  qualities  which  history  affirms, 
and  if  every  Jew  can  be  made  to  feel  as  Lord  Bea- 
consfield  felt,  then  Benjamin  Disraeli,  when  taunted 
in  the  House  of  Commons  for  his  Jewish  extraction 
and  when  he  hurled  back,  “  I  can  well  afford  to  be 
called  a  Jew,”  the  author  shall  feel  he  is  well  repaid 
for  the  labour  involved  in  this  refined  study  of  history. 

Madison  C.  Peters. 

New  York  City. 


[ix] 


I 


1 


SYNOPSIS  OF  CONTENTS 

PAG® 

Introductory  Essay . 3 

The  Hebrew  Commonwealth  the  Model  for 
the  American  Republic.  By  Oscar  S.  Straus. 

The  Constitutions  of  New  England  Colonies  Framed  upon 
the  Model  of  the  Mosaic  Code — Sermons  Discussing 
the  Political  Situation  of  the  Times  Founded  on  the 
Civil  Polity  of  Israel — The  Religious  Spirit  of 
Puritanism  A  Reversion  to  Biblical  Precedents. 

I 

Jews,  Not  Jewels,  in  the  Discovery  of  America 

Jewish  Money  Backed  by  Jewish  Genius  Encouraged 
Columbus — Isabella  Unable  to  Furnish  Financial 
Aid — No  Jewels  to  Pawn — Louis  Santangel,  Gabriel 
Sanchez  and  Juan  Cabrero  Back  their  Belief  in 
Columbus  with  Good  Spanish  Ducats — Without  the 
Scientific  Achievements  of  the  Jews  Columbus’s 
Wonderfully  Well-Planned  Voyages  Would  Have 
Been  Impossible — The  First  White  Man  to  Set  Foot 
on  American  Soil  A  Jew . 23 

n 

The  Jews  in  Early  America  ' 

Brazil  the  First  Part  of  the  Western  World  to  Give  a 
Home  to  the  European  Jew — The  First  Jewish 
Colony  on  the  North  American  Continent — Peter 
Stuyvesant,  the  Jew-Hater — The  Jews  Under  the 
English — Why  the  Jews  Left  New  York  for  Newport 
— Pre-Revolutionary  Settlements  in  Philadelphia 

[  xi  ] 


SYNOPSIS  OF  CONTENTS 

and  Pennsylvania — Maryland,  South  Carolina,  Geor¬ 
gia  and  Virginia — Early  Settlements  in  the  Western 
States — Canada  Never  a  Favorite  Land  with  the  Jews. 

III 

The  Jew  As  A  Soldier  and  Patriot 

What  Makes  a  Patriot — Renan’s,  Gold  win  Smith’s  and 
Mark  Twain’s  Sneers  Refuted — Jewish  Patriots 
Ripened  Even  in  the  Sun  of  Oppression — In  Spain 
They  Fought  as  Valiant  Knights — Jewish  Defense  for 
Polish  Territory  During  Onslaught  of  Cossacks  upon 
Poland  During  Thirty  Years’  War — Conspicuous 
Jews  in  the  Austrian  Army — Their  Bravery  in  the 
Franco-Prussian  War — During  Napoleonic  Cam¬ 
paigns — Marshal  Massena — Soldiers  Before  Recog¬ 
nized  As  Citizens — In  the  French  Army  To-day — 
The  Dreyfus  Case — Jews  as  British  Soldiers — Under 
Wellington  at  Waterloo — Their  Prominent  Part  in 
the  South  African  War — In  the  German  Army — In 
Italy,  Even  Russia  and  Other  European  Countries — 
Jews  as  American  Soldiers — Prominent  Jews  in  the 
Revolutionary  War — Haym  Salomon’s  Response  to 
Robert  Morris’s  Appeal — Jews  in  the  War  of  1812 — 
Judah  Touro  and  the  Bunker  Hill  Monument — The 
Jews  As  Abolitionists — The  Honorable  Record  of 
Jews  in  the  Regular  Army  and  Navy — Jews  in  the 
Civil  War — In  the  War  With  Spain  No  Nationality 
Displayed  Greater  Heroism . 

IV 

What  the  Jew  Has  Done  for  the  World 

Other  Nations  Change,  Jews  Remain  the  Same — Ever 
Workers — The  World’s  Indebtedness  to  the  Jew — 

[xii] 


'AGT5 

41 


69 


SYNOPSIS  OF  CONTENTS 


I' AG  F! 


In  the  Earliest  Ages  Interested  in  Astronomy — 
The  Great  Strides  Made  in  the  Knowledge  of  the 
Heavenly  Bodies  and  Their  Movements — Distin¬ 
guished  Astronomers  and  Their  Contributions  to 
Astronomical  Knowledge — Mathematical  Knowledge 
in  Talmudic  Times — Works  on  Mathematics — Early 
Jewish  Commentators  on  Euclid — As  Inventors 
Jews  Have  Manifested  Mechanical  Genius  of  High 
Order — Their  Inventive  Faculty — Jews  As  Explorers 
Well  to  the  Front — In  Medicine  the  Jews’  Record 
Antedates  /Esculapius — The  Ancient  Jews  Proficient 
Pathologists — Skillful  Surgeons — Splendid  Dentists — 
The  Great  Doctors  of  the  Middle  Ages  Were  All 
Jews — Time  When  the  Jews  Held  the  Lives  of 
Royal  Europe  in  their  Hands — Even  Popes,  Though 
Issuing  Condemnatory  Bulls  Would  Allow  None  But 
Jewish  Physicians  to  Attend  Them — Jews  in  Our 
Day  Distinguished  in  Every  Realm  of  Medicine — 
The  Wonderful  Penchant  of  Jews  for  the  Legal  Pro¬ 
fession — Great  Jurists  of  the  Nineteenth  Century — 
Distinguished  Jews  in  European  Politics — In  Ameri¬ 
can  Politics — Jewish  Poets — The  Drama — Ancient 
and  Modern — Prominent  Playwrights  and  Actors — 
Music  Early  Cultivated  by  the  Israelites — Jewish 
Musicians  of  Modern  Times — Composers,  Performers 
and  Conductors — The  Jews  Founders  of  Our  Scien¬ 
tific  Philology — As  Philosophers  Jews  First  in  the 
Field — Israelites  Remarkable  Historians — As  An¬ 
tiquarians  and  Economists — Distinguished  Semitic 
Novelists — Famous  Painters  and  Sculptors — The 
Great  Masters  of  Prose — Literary  Critics  . 

V 

Money  and  the  Jews 

Jews  Not  As  Rich  as  Popularly  Supposed — No  More  of 
An  Usurer  Than  His  Christian  Brother — False  the 


107 


SYNOPSIS  OF  CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Jew  that  Shakespeare  Drew — The  Jews  of  the  Middle 
Ages  the  Sole  Possessors  of  the  Wealth — In  Finance 
Jews  Are  Creators  Rather  than  Pullers-Down — 
Capital  and  Jew  Not  Synonymous  Terms — The 
Jews  of  New  York . 177 

VI 

* 

Jewish  Traits  and  Characteristics  t " 

A  Jew  A  Jew  the  World  Over — No  Affectation  of  “Blue- 
Blood  ”  Among  the  Jews — Yet  They  Were  the  Torch- 
Bearers  of  the  World  When  the  Ancestors  of  European 
Kings  Were  Bending  Their  Backs  to  the  Commands 
of  Their  Superiors — Why  the  Jew  Wins — His  Home 
Life — Why  A  Longer-Lived  Race  than  Any  Other — 
Law-Abiding — Why  An  Increasing  Number  of 
Criminals  in  Modern  Times . 199 

VII 

Justice  to  the  Jew 

Time  to  Quit  Hating  One  Another  for  the  Love  of  God 
— Jews  and  Christians  Alike  Make  Ignorance  of 
Each  Other  A  Claim  for  Judgment — Jesus  a  Jew — 

Yet  in  His  Name  Christians  Have  Made  War  Upon 
Those  Who  Have  Given  Christianity  to  the  World — 

Free  America  the  Promised  Land — Still  America 
While  Granting  Liberty  to  the  Jew  Denies  Him 
Fraternity  and  Equality — Not  Looked  Upon  as  a 
Brother — Ostracized  Socially — Blackballed  in  Clubs 
— Caricatured  on  the  Stage — ShutOut  of  the  Fashion¬ 
able  Private  Schools — Denied  in  Many  Hotels  the 
Rights  of  a  Common  Citizen — Give  the  Jew  the 
American  Square  Deal — All  He  Asks  is  JUSTICE  .  225 


THE  INFLUENCE  OF  THE  HEBREW  COM¬ 
MONWEALTH  UPON  THE  ORIGIN  OF 
REPUBLICAN  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE 
UNITED  STATES 


The  whole  year  1789  contains  the  germ  of  Hebraism.  The 
idea  of  right  and  social  justice  is  an  Israelitish  idea.  The 
advent  of  justice  on  this  earth  has  been  the  dream  of  our  peo¬ 
ple.  To  find  the  first  source  of  man’s  rights,  we  must  go  back 
farther  than  the  Reform  or  the  Renaissance,  farther  back 
even  than  antiquity  or  the  Gospel,  as  far  back  as  the  Bible, 
the  Thora,  and  the  prophets.  Our  rabbis,  the  Isaiahs  and 
Jeremiahs,  were  the  first  revolutionists.  .  .  .  From  our 
Bible  came  the  Reformation.  From  it  came  the  inspirations 
of  the  poor  wretches  of  the  Low  Countries.  Puritans  in  Eng¬ 
land  and  America  appropriated  the  language  of  our  judges 
and  prophets.  To  the  Bible  belongs  the  success  of  those  revo¬ 
lutions,  of  those  Anglo-Saxons  who  boast  of  being  your  mas¬ 
ters.  That  superiority  they  owe  to  a  better  acquaintance  with 
Israel.  The  Huguenots  and  the  Bible  would  have  triumphed 
in  France  if  only  the  Revolution  had  burst  forth  a  century 
earlier,  and  in  that  event  it  would  have  had  a  different 
issue.  .  .  . 

In  teaching  that  all  men  descended  from  one  Adam  and  one 
Eve  the  Bible  proclaimed  that  all  were  free,  equal,  and  broth¬ 
ers.  So  in  the  principles  of  the  Revolution  our  hopes  are  the 
same.  For  this  unity,  this  fraternity,  our  prophets  show  us, 
have  been  ours  in  the  past,  as  they  must  be  in  the  future. 
They  were  Israel’s  ideals.  The  Revolution  with  its  hopes  is  in 
its  issue  nothing  more  than  the  actual  testamentary  execution 
of  the  will  of  Isaiah.  Social  renovation,  equality  of  rights, 
the  uplifting  of  the  lowly,  the  suppression  of  privileges,  of 
class  barriers,  the  brotherhood  of  races,  everything  aimed  at  or 
dreamed  of  by  the  Revolution,  was  proclaimed  some  twenty- 
five  centuries  ago  by  our  own  true  believers. 

Words  which  M.  Anatole  Leroy-Beaulieu,  the  eminent 
Frenchman,  puts  in  the  mouth  of  an  Israelite  who  is  sup - 
posably  present  at  a  banquet  celebrating  the  centenary  of 
1789. 


THE  INFLUENCE  OF  THE  HEBREW  COMMON¬ 
WEALTH  UPON  THE  ORIGIN  OF  REPUBLICAN 
GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 

Introductory  Essay  by  Oscar  S.  Straus,  Litt.  D.,  LL.  D.,  Sec¬ 
retary  of  Commerce  and  Labour. 

It  Is  remarkable,  that  of  the  many  historians  who 
have  written  so  ably  and  minutely  of  the  history  of 
the  United  States,  none  should  have  observed  in  his 
writings  the  relationship  between  our  republic  and  the 
commonwealth  of  the  Hebrews,  especially  in  the  light 
of  the  earliest  constitutions  of  several  of  the  New 
England  Colonies,  expressly  framed  upon  the  model 
of  the  Mosaic  code  as  a  guide,  and  of  the  frequent 
references  thereto  made  by  the  ministers  in  their 
political  sermons,  who  constantly  drew  their  civil 
creed  from  the  history  of  those  times,  and  held  up 
this  ancient  form  of  government  as  a  model  inspired 
under  the  guidance  of  the  Most  High. 

The  distinguished  Jonathan  May  hew,  the  divine 
whom  Robert  Treat  Paine  styled  “  the  father  of 

[3] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

civil  and  religious  liberty  in  Massachusetts  and  in 
America,”  who  suggested  to  James  Otis  the  idea  of 
a  committee  of  correspondence,  a  measure  of  great 
efficiency  in  producing  concert  of  action  between 
the  Colonies,  and  who  as  early  as  1750  delivered  a 
discourse  against  unlimited  submission  and  non-resist¬ 
ance,  a  sermon  which  was  characterised  as  “  The 
morning  gun  of  the  Revolution,”  in  a  later  discourse 
delivered  in  Boston  on  May  23,  1766,  on  the  “  Repeal 
of  the  Stamp  Act,”  says :  “  God  gave  Israel  a  king 
(or  absolute  monarchy)  in  his  anger,  because  they 
had  not  sense  and  virtue  enough  to  like  a  free  com¬ 
monwealth,  and  to  have  himself  for  their  king, — 
where  the  spirit  of  the  Lord  is  there  is  liberty, — 
and  if  any  miserable  people  on  the  continent  or  isles 
of  Europe  be  driven  in  their  extremity  to  seek  a  safe 
retreat  from  slavery  in  some  far-distant  clime,  oh, 
let  them  find  one  in  America.” 

Samuel  Langdon,  D.  D.,  the  President  of  Harvard 
College,  who,  through  the  influence  of  John  Hancock, 
was  installed  in  that  office  as  the  successor  of  Samuel 
Locke,  and  who  afterwards,  in  1788,  was  a  member  of 
the  New  Hampshire  convention,  when  the  constitution 
came  before  that  body  for  adoption,  in  his  election 
sermon,  delivered  before  the  “  Honourable  Congress 
of  Massachusetts  Bay,”  on  the  31st  of  May,  1775, 

[4] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

taking  as  his  text  the  passage  in  Isaiah  i.  26,  “  And 
I  will  restore  thy  judges  as  at  the  first,”  etc.,  de¬ 
livered  a  most  eloquent  discourse,  wherein  he  traces 
the  history  of  government  from  the  first  recorded  be¬ 
ginning,  and  defines  its  functions  and  prerogatives 
with  a  logic  that  proves  him  to  have  been  well  versed 
in  the  doctrines  of  civil  liberty  as  handed  down 
through  the  writings  of  Sidney,  Milton,  Hoadley, 
and  his  eminent  predecessor,  Locke.  These  are  his 
words;  “The  Jewish  government,  according  to  the 
original  constitution  which  was  divinely  established, 
if  considered  merely  in  a  civil  view,  was  a  perfect  re¬ 
public.  And  let  them  who  cry  up  the  divine  right  of 
kings  consider,  that  the  form  of  government  which 
had  a  proper  claim  to  a  divine  establishment  was  so 
far  from  including  the  idea  of  a  king  that  it  was  a 
high  crime  for  Israel  to  ask  to  be  in  this  respect  like 
other  nations,  and  when  they  were  thus  gratified,  it 
was  rather  as  a  just  punishment  for  their  folly. 
Every  nation,  when  able  and  agreed,  has  a  right  to 
set  up  over  itself  any  form  of  government  which  to 
it  may  appear  most  conducive  to  its  common  welfare. 
The  civil  polity  of  Israel  is  doubtless  an  excellent 
general  model,  allowing  for  some  peculiarities ;  at 
least,  some  principal  laws  and  orders  of  it  may  be 
copied  in  more  modern  establishments.” 

[5] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

By  a  special  vote  Dr.  Langdon’s  sermon  was  or¬ 
dered  to  be  printed  and  sent  to  each  minister  in  the 
colony  and  to  each  member  of  the  Congress.  What 
effect  such  words  as  these  had  on  the  minds  of  the 
people  in  general  in  preparing  them  for  independence, 
as  well  as  upon  the  founders  of  our  republic,  each  and 
all  of  whom  doubtless  read  this  sermon,  is  scarcely 
a  matter  of  conjecture  when  wre  take  into  consider¬ 
ation  that  he  was  not  only  a  ripe  scholar  occupying 
the  most  important  literary  position  in  America,  as 
President  of  Harvard  College,  but  one  of  the  fore¬ 
most  ministers  and  pulpit  orators,  as  well  as  an  ac¬ 
knowledged  authority  in  the  science  of  government. 

On  the  17th  of  May,  1776,  which  was  kept  as  a 
national  fast,  George  Duffield,  the  minister  of  the 
Third  Presbyterian  Church  in  Philadelphia,  with 
John  Adams  as  a  listener,  drew  a  parallel  between 
George  III.  and  Pharaoh,  and  inferred  that  the  same 
providence  of  God  which  had  rescued  the  Israelites 
from  Egyptian  bondage  intended  to  free  the  colonies. 
The  election  sermon  of  the  following  year  w’as 
preached  on  the  29th  of  May,  1776,  some  forty  days 
before  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  before  “  the 
Honourable  Council  and  the  Honourable  House  of 
Representatives  of  the  Colony  of  Massachusetts 
Bay,”  by  the  Rev.  Samuel  West.  He  was  not  behind 

[6] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

his  professional  brethren  in  zeal  for  the  welfare  and 
liberty  of  his  country.  He  was  a  member  of  the  con¬ 
vention  for  forming  the  constitution  of  Massachu¬ 
setts,  and  of  that  of  1788,  which  ratified  the  Constitu¬ 
tion  of  the  United  States.  He  took  his  text  from 
Isaiah  i.  26,  the  same  as  was  taken  by  Dr.  Langdon 
above  quoted.  He  discusses  the  entire  political  situa¬ 
tion  of  the  times.  “  We  are  to  remember  that  all  men 
being  by  nature  equal,  they  have  a  right  to  make  such 
regulation  as  they  deem  necessary  for  the  good  of 
all ;  that  magistrates  have  no  authority  but  what  they 
derive  from  the  people.”  He  then  passes  in  review 
those  two  famous  passages  from  the  New  Testament, 
wdiich  I  have  already  referred  to,  under  whose  au¬ 
thority  monarchs,  tyrants,  and  usurpers  have  claimed 
as  sanctioned  by  Holy  Scriptures  the  right  of  obedi¬ 
ence  under  all  circumstances,  and  from  which  were 
deduced  the  doctrines  of  “  Divine  Right,”  and  “  Un¬ 
limited  Submission.”  From  this  he  passes  in  review 
the  history  of  civil  government,  and  sums  up  by  say¬ 
ing  :  “  There  was  great  deal  of  propriety  in  the  ad¬ 
vice  Jethro  gave  to  Moses  to  provide  able  men — men 
of  truth — and  to  appoint  them  for  rulers  over  the 
people  [then  quoting  the  words  of  David]  :  4  He 
that  ruleth  over  men  must  be  just,  ruling  in  the  fear 
of  God.’  ” 


m 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

The  election  sermon  in  1780  was  delivered  before 
the  same  body,  the  Council  and  House  of  Representa¬ 
tives  of  the  State  of  Massachusetts,  by  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Simeon  Howard,  who  succeeded  Dr.  Mayhew  as  pastor 
of  the  West  Church  of  Boston.  Among  his  hearers 
were  Robert  Treat  Paine  and  Samuel  Adams.  The 
latter  submitted  to  Rev.  Mr.  Howard  the  resolutions 
of  both  Houses  of  the  General  Assembly,  containing 
an  expression  of  thanks,  and  requesting  a  copy  for 
the  press.  Taking  as  his  text  Exodus  xviii.  21,  44  Thou 
shalt  provide  out  of  all  thy  people  able  men,  such 
as  fear  God,  men  of  truth,  hating  coveteousness ;  and 
place  such  over  them  to  be  rulers,”  he  divides  his 
sermon  under  four  heads:  1st,  Necessity  of  civil  gov¬ 
ernment  ;  2d.  The  right  of  the  people  to  choose  their 
own  rulers ;  3d.  The  business  of  rulers ;  and  4th.  The 
qualifications  as  pointed  out  in  the  text  as  necessary 
for  civil  rulers.  His  sermon  is  almost  entirely  de¬ 
voted  to  the  exposition  of  the  Hebrew  Commonwealth 
under  Moses ;  that  it  was  a  government  by  the  people 
under  the  guidance  of  God  Almighty ;  and  the  rulers 
were  not  appointed,  but  elected.  His  words  are: 
44  This  is  asserted  by  Josephus  and  plainly  intimated 
by  Moses  in  his  recapitulatory  discourses,  and  indeed 
the  Jews  always  exercised  the  right  of  choosing  their 
own  rulers ;  even  Saul  and  David  and  all  their  sue- 

[8] 


I 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

cessors  on  the  throne  were  made  kings  by  the  voice 
of  the  people.” 

On  May  8,  1783,  at  Hartford,  before  44  His  Ex¬ 
cellency  Governor  Trumbull  and  the  Honourable 
General  Assembly  of  the  State  of  Connecticut,”  the 
election  sermon  was  preached  by  the  eminent  Presi¬ 
dent  of  Yale  College,  Rev.  Dr.  Ezra  Stiles,  who  as 
early  as  1760,  predicted  that  44  the  imperial  dominion 
will  subvert  as  it  ought  in  election.”  He  was  the  life¬ 
long  friend  of  Franklin,  and  to  whom  Franklin,  who 
was  regarded  by  some  as  an  atheist,  because  his  pure 
and  simple  deism  conformed  with  no  established  sect, 
wrote  in  his  eighty-fourth  year  as  follows:  44  You  de¬ 
sire  to  know  something  of  my  religion ;  it  is  the  first 
time  I  have  been  questioned  upon  it.  Here  is  my 
creed:  I  believe  in  one  God,  creator  of  the  universe; 
that  he  ought  to  be  worshipped ;  that  the  most  ac¬ 
ceptable  service  we  render  to  him,  is  doing  good  to 
his  other  children.  As  to  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  I  think 
his  system  of  morals,  as  he  left  them  to  us,  the 
best  the  world  ever  saw,  or  is  likely  to  see ;  but  I  ap¬ 
prehend  it  has  received  various  corrupting  changes, 
and  I  have  some  doubts  as  to  his  divinity.”  Dr.  Stiles, 
taking  for  his  text  Deut.  xxvi.  19,  44  And  to  make 
thee  high  above  all  nations  which  he  had  made,  in 
praise,  and  in  name,  and  in  honour,”  etc.,  delivered 

[9] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

a  discourse,  subject,  44  The  United  States  Elevated 
to  Glory  and  Honour.”  This  sermon  takes  up  one 
hundred  and  twenty  closely  printed  pages,  and  as¬ 
sumes  the  proportions  of  a  treatise  on  government 
from  the  Hebrew  Theocracy  down  to  the  then  pres¬ 
ent,  showing  by  illustration  and  history  that  the  cul¬ 
mination  of  popular  government  had  been  reached 
in  America,  transplanted  by  divine  hands  in  ful¬ 
filment  of  biblical  prophecy  from  the  days  of  Moses 
to  the  land  of  Washington ;  and  discussing  from 
an  historical  point  of  view  44  the  reasons  render¬ 
ing  it  probable  that  the  United  States  will,  by  the 
ordering  of  Heaven,  eventually  become  this  people.” 
His  words  are:  44  Here  (at  the  foot  of  Mount 
Nebo)  the  man  of  God,  Moses,  assembled  three  mil¬ 
lions  of  people — the  number  of  the  United  States — 
recapitulated  and  gave  them  a  second  publication  of 
the  sacred  Jural  Institute,  delivered  thirty-eight 
years  before  under  the  most  awful  solemnity  at  Mount 
Sinai.  He  foresaw  indeed  their  rejection  of  God, 
whence  Moses  and  the  prophets,  by  divine  direction, 
interspersed  their  writings  with  promises  that  when 
the  ends  of  God’s  moral  government  should  be  an¬ 
swered,  he  would  recover  and  gather  them  (quoting 
Deut.  xxx.  3)  4  from  all  the  nations  whither  God  had 
scattered  them.5  .  .  .  Then  the  words  of  Moses 

[10] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

hitherto  accomplished  but  in  part,  will  be  literally 
fulfilled.  I  shall,”  he  continues,  “  enlarge  no  further 
upon  the  primary  sense  and  literal  accomplishment  of 
this  and  numerous  other  prophecies  respecting  both 
Jews  and  Gentiles  in  the  latter-day  glory  of  the 
church;  for  I  have  assumed  the  text  only  as  intro¬ 
ductory  to  a  discourse  upon  the  political  welfare  of 
God’s  American  Israel,  and  as  allusively  prophetic  of 
the  future  prosperity  and  splendour  of  the  United 
States.”  Referring  to  the  success  of  our  armies  un¬ 
der  Washington,  whereby  the  independence  and  sov¬ 
ereignty  of  the  United  States  was  established  and 
recognised  by  Great  Britain  herself  in  less  than  eight 
years,  he  says :  “  Whereupon  Congress  put  at  the 
head  of  the  spirited  army  the  only  man  on  whom  the 
eyes  of  all  Israel  were  placed.  Posterity,  incredulous 
as  they  may  be,  will  yet  acknowledge  that  this  Ameri¬ 
can  Joshua  was  raised  up  by  God  for  the  great  work 
of  leading  the  armies  of  this  American  Joseph  (now 
separated  from  his  brethren),  and  conducting  these 
people  to  liberty  and  independence.”  Such  is  the  rea¬ 
soning  of  Dr.  Stiles,  a  man  who  wTas  held  in  the  highest 
esteem  and  most  profound  respect  by  every  American 
for  his  learning,  patriotism,  and  wisdom.  Chancellor 
Kent  said  of  him,  in  an  address  delivered  at  the  Yale 
Commencement  in  1831 :  “  A  more  constant  and  de- 

[ii] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

voted  friend  to  the  revolution  and  independence  of 
his  country  never  existed.  Take  him  for  all  in  all,  this 
very  man  was  undoubtedly  one  of  the  purest  and  best- 
gifted  men  of  his  age.” 

On  December  11,  1783,  appointed  as  a  day  of 
thanksgiving  by  Congress,  upon  the  restoration  of 
peace,  Rev.  Dr.  Duffield,  of  the  Third  Presbyterian 
Church  in  Philadelphia,  and  one  of  the  chaplains  of 
Congress,  preached  the  sermon  of  the  day  before  a 
most  distinguished  audience  of  citizens  and  legis¬ 
lators.  Dr.  Duffield  was  also  one  of  the  most  eminent 
divines  in  America,  recognised  not  only  for  his  great 
learning  and  eloquence,  but  prominent  by  reason  of 
his  zeal  in  the  cause  of  independence,  and  for  his  de¬ 
votion  to  the  public  welfare,  and  for  his  commanding 
influence  among  his  fellow  men.  This  sermon,  to¬ 
gether  with  others  to  which  reference  has  been  made, 
illustrate  how  thoroughly  the  pulpit  was  imbued 
with  the  Mosaic  ideas  and  polity.  The  affairs  of  the 
Colonies  in  their  every  condition  were  constantly  com¬ 
pared  with  those  of  the  children  of  Israel.  Dr.  Stiles, 
in  his  celebrated  sermon  above  quoted,  went  so  far 
in  that  direction  as  to  advance  reasons  why  the  abo¬ 
riginal  Americans  were  none  others  but  the  lost  tribes 
of  Israel,  and  that  therefore  the  same  Providence 
guided  their  destiny.  Dr.  Duffield,  referring  to  the 

[13] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

causes  which  led  to  the  American  revolution,  that  it 
was  brought  about  by  reason  of  the  British  monarch’s 
determination  to  reduce  the  colonies  into  absolute 
vassalage,  carries  forward  the  analogy  in  these  words : 
“  Some  have  ascribed  this  extravagant  conduct  to  the 
same  spirit  of  jealousy  which  once  influenced  the 
councils  of  Egypt  against  the  house  of  Joseph,  lest 
waxing  too  powerful  they  might  break  off  their  con¬ 
nection,  and  pursue  a  separate  interest  of  their  own.” 
He  calls  attention  to  the  providential  success  that 
crowned  the  American  cause,  that  in  eight  short  but 
eventful  years  the  thirteen  dependent  Colonies  had 
become  thirteen  independent  States.  He  explains  how 
these  wonderful  results  were  brought  about  in  a  sum¬ 
ming  up  that  consists  of  a  climax  of  Mosaic  analogies. 
“  ’Tis  He,  the  Sovereign  Disposer  of  all  events,  hath 
Wrought  for  us,  and  brought  the  whole  to  pass.  It 
Was  He  who  led  his  Israel  of  old,  by  the  pillar  of  fire 
and  the  cloud,  through  their  wilderness  journey, 
wherein  they  also  had  their  wanderings.  ’Twas  He 
who  raised  a  Joshua  to  lead  the  tribes  of  Israel  in 
the  field  of  battle;  raised  and  formed  a  Washington 
to  lead  on  the  troops  of  his  chosen  States.  ’Twas 
He  who  in  Barak’s  day  spread  the  spirit  of  war  in 
every  breast  to  shake  off  the  Canaanitish  yoke,  and 
inspired  thy  inhabitants,  O  America !  It  was  He  who 

[13] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

raised  up  Cyrus  to  break  the  Assyrian  force,  and  say: 
6  Let  Israel  be  free  ’ ;  endued  the  monarch  of  France 
with  an  angel’s  mind,  to  assert  and  secure  the  freedom 
of  his  United  American  States.  And  He  alone  who 
saith  to  the  proud  waves  of  the  sea :  4  Hitherto  shall 
ye  come,  but  no  farther.’  ” 

These  constant  references,  parallels,  and  analogies 
to  the  children  of  Israel  in  their  struggle  for  political 
liberty  would  not  have  been  made  again  and  again  if 
they  did  not  meet  with  a  responsive  echo  in  the  minds 
and  sentiments  of  the  large  audiences  to  whom  they 
were  addressed  throughout  the  thirteen  Colonies.  A 
volume  would  not  contain  all  the  politico-theological 
discourses  delivered  during  the  decade  prior  to  the 
restoration  of  peace,  wherein  the  Hebrew  Common¬ 
wealth  was  held  up  as  a  model,  and  its  history  as 
a  guide  for  the  American  people  in  their  mighty 
struggle  for  the  blessings  of  civil  and  religious 
liberty.  I  have  purposely  only  quoted  such  of  these 
discourses  as  were  delivered  by  ministers  who  were 
eminent  not  only  in  the  pulpit,  but  were  equally  dis¬ 
tinguished  as  scholars,  as  patriots,  and  as  legis¬ 
lators. 

Thus  far  the  Hebrew  Commonwealth  has  been  re¬ 
ferred  to  as  the  model  and  guide  adopted  in  the  ser¬ 
mons  and  discourses  of  our  patriotic  divines ;  we  shall 

[14] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

now  trace  it  in  the  halls  of  legislation,  and  in  the 
writings  and  political  pamphlets  published  during 
tile  period  prior  to  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution. 
We  must  not  lose  sight  of  the  fact  that  neither  the 
Declaration  of  Independence  nor  the  success  of  our 
armies  in  the  struggle  decided  for  us  our  form  of  gov¬ 
ernment,  or  secured  for  posterity  the  blessings  of  civil 
and  religious  liberty, — the  form  only  served  to  make 
the  latter  possible.  These  were  the  victories  of  the 
statesmen,  the  heroes,  and  of  the  patriots  of  the  pen. 
The  machinery  of  government  under  the  articles  of 
confederation  was  so  defective,  weak,  and  ineffectual, 
that  men,  wise  men,  true  and  loyal  Americans,  aye, 
many  in  the  army,  by  reason  of  the  inability  of  the 
government  to  pay  the  half-starved  soldiers,  de¬ 
manded  a  government  that  would  revive  from  pros¬ 
tration  the  public  credit  and  faith  of  the  nation,  that 
would  provide  for  the  payment  of  interest  on  the  pub¬ 
lic  debt;  they  felt  the  need  of  a  government  with  a 
strong  arm,  an  elective  monarchy.  44  Now,  just  as 
day  was  dawning  and  independence  about  to  be  se¬ 
cured,  everything  seems  to  tumble  in  chaos  about 
them,  threatening  a  state  of  things  worse  than  their 
former  condition  as  colonists.” 

A  paper  embodying  the  views  of  the  army  of  Wash¬ 
ington  while  stationed  about  Newburg  was  drawn  up 

[15] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

and  presented  to  their  commander-in-chief  by  Colonel 
Nicola,  an  old  army  officer,  held  in  high  esteem  by 
Washington.  This,  after  describing  the  perilous  state 
of  feeling  in  the  army  and  the  dangerous  aspect  of 
affairs,  and  showing  the  necessity,  nov/  that  peace 
was  assured,  of  settling  at  once  on  a  form  of  govern¬ 
ment  which  should  be  a  strong  one,  took  up  the  sev¬ 
eral  forms  of  government  in  the  world,  and  summed 
up  by  declaring  that  a  republican  government  was 
the  most  unstable  and  insecure,  and  a  constitutional 
monarchy  like  that  of  England,  the  strongest  and 
safest,  and  in  short,  offered  to  make  Washington 
dictator.  It  concluded  by  saying:  “  Owing  to  the 
prejudices  of  the  people  it  might  not  at  first  be  pru¬ 
dent  to  assume  the  title  of  Royalty,  but  if  all  other 
things  were  adjusted,  we  believe  strong  arguments 
might  be  produced  for  admitting  the  title  of  King.” 
Like  Gideon,  the  righteous  judge  of  the  Hebrew  Com¬ 
monwealth,  whom  the  people  of  Israel  offered  to  make 
king  in  their  unbounded  gratitude,  and  in  admiration 
of  his  signal  service  in  delivering  them  from  the  hands 
of  their  most  powerful  enemies,  Washington  declined 
the  crown. 

This  monarchical-party  spirit  was  so  strong  that 
it  survived  even  after  the  adoption  of  the  Constitu¬ 
tion  until  the  election  of  Jefferson  as  President,  who 

[16] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

refers  to  it  in  his  inaugural  address.  No  one  arraigned 
the  monarchical  tendencies  with  a  more  vigorous  and 
fearless  pen  ;  no  one  contributed  more  in  keeping  alive 
the  fires  of  liberty  during  those  times  that  tried  men’s 
souls,  than  Thomas  Paine,  that  much  maligned  and 
abused  man,  who  has  been  accused  of  every  crime  that 
malice  could  invent.  Paine  was  the  friend  of  Franklin, 
through  whose  patronage  he  came  to  America ;  he  was 
the  editor  of  the  Pennsylvania  Magazine ,  the  Secre¬ 
tary  of  the  Committee  of  Foreign  Affairs  of  the  Con¬ 
tinental  Congress ;  he  was  beloved  and  esteemed  by 
Washington,  by  whom  he  was  invited,  when  in  dis¬ 
tressed  circumstances,  to  share  the  hospitalities  of 
his  home;  to  whom  James  Monroe,  in  1794,  then  Min¬ 
ister  to  Great  Britain,  wrote,  while  Paine  was  con¬ 
fined  in  the  Luxembourg  as  prisoner,  by  the  order 
of  Robespierre,  for  espousing  the  cause  of  liberty  in 
France,  as  follows:  “You  are  considered  by  them 
(the  people  of  the  United  States)  as  not  only  having 
rendered  important  services  in  our  own  revolution, 
but  as  being  on  a  more  extensive  scale  the  friend 
of  human  rights,  and  a  distinguished  and  able  advo¬ 
cate  in  favour  of  public  liberty.  To  the  welfare  of 
Thomas  Paine  the  Americans  are  not,  nor  can  they 
be,  indifferent.”  Washington  says  of  the  author  of 
“  Common  Sense,”  in  a  letter  to  Joseph  Reed,  dated 

[17] 


i 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

January  31,  1776:  44  A  few  more  of  such  flaming 
arguments  as  were  exhibited  at  Falmouth  and  Nor¬ 
folk,  added  to  the  sound  doctrine  and  unanswerable 
reason  contained  in  the  pamphlet  4  Common  Sense 
will  not  leave  numbers  at  a  loss  to  decide  on  the 
propriety  of  separation.”  44  This  book  (4<  Common 
Sense  ”),  says  Dr.  Rush,  44  burst  forth  from  the  press 
with  an  effect  that  has  been  rarely  produced  by  types 
and  paper  in  any  age  or  country.”  The  former  part 
of  this  remarkable  production  is  devoted  to  the  sub¬ 
ject  of  44  Monarchy  and  Hereditary  Succession.”  The 
argument  is  drawn  entirely  from  the  Hebrew  Com¬ 
monwealth.  44  Monarchy  is  ranked  in  Scripture,” 
says  he,  44  as  one  of  the  sins  of  the  Jews,  for  which 
a  curse  in  reserve  is  denounced  against  them.”  44  All 
anti-monarchical  parts  of  Scripture  have  been  very 
smoothly  glossed  over  in  monarchical  governments, 
but  they  undoubtedly  merit  the  attention  of  coun¬ 
tries  which  have  their  governments  yet  to  form.”  And 
then  he  recites  the  history  of  the  entire  44  transac¬ 
tion,”  to  the  introduction  of  Saul  as  king.  44  But 
where,  say  some,”  are  his  words,  46  is  the  king  of 
America?  I’ll  tell  you,  friend:  he  reigns  above,  and 
doth  not  make  havoc  of  mankind  like  the  royal  brute 
of  Britain.  Yet  that  we  may  not  appear  to  be  defec¬ 
tive  even  in  earthly  honours,  let  a  day  be  set  apart 

[18] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

for  proclaiming  the  chapter;  let  it  be  brought  forth 
placed  on  the  divine  law,  the  word  of  God ;  let  a 
crown  be  placed  thereon,  by  which  the  world  may 
know  that,  so  far  as  we  approve  of  monarchy,  in 
America  the  law  is  king.” 

He  narrates  the  conduct  of  that  truly  great  judge 
of  Israel  who  was  summoned  by  the  voice  of  the  people 
from  the  wheatfield  to  assume  the  chief  magistracy 
of  the  nation  and  to  deliver  his  people  from  their 
strongest  and  most  powerful  foes,  the  Midianites. 
These  are  his  words,  in  the  second  chapter  of  “  Com¬ 
mon  Sense  ” :  “  The  Jews,  elated  with  success,  and 
attributing  it  to  the  generalship  of  Gideon,  proposed 
making  him  king,  saying :  4  Rule  thou  over  us,  thou 
and  thy  son  and  thy  son’s  son.’  Here  was  temptation 
in  its  fullest  extent;  but  Gideon,  in  the  piety  of  his 
soul,  replied :  4 1  will  not  rule  over  you,  neither  shall 
my  son  rule  over  you ;  the  Lord  shall  rule  over  you.’ 
Gideon  doth  not  decline  the  honour,  but  denieth  the 
right  to  give  it.”  Paine  then  continues  the  scriptural 
narrative  concerning  the  people  demanding  the  kings, 
about  one  hundred  years  after  this  period,  under 
Samuel,  and  quoting  in  full  Samuel’s  admonitions, 
concludes  in  these  words :  46  These  portions  of  the 
Scripture  are  direct  and  positive;  they  admit  of  no 
equivocal  construction.  That  the  Almighty  hath  here 

[19] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

entered  his  protest  against  monarchical  government 
is  true,  or  the  Scriptures  are  false.” 

Unfortunately,  we  have  in  most  instances  only 
skeleton  reports  of  proceedings  and  debates  of  the 
Federal  and  State  conventions  on  the  adoption  of 
the  Constitution.  Doubtless  the  model  of  the  ancient 
commonwealth,  its  history  and  lessons  were  frequently 
employed  by  the  distinguished  representatives ;  the 
meagreness  of  the  records  leaves  this  to  conjecture 
only.  In  the  Legislatures  of  the  various  States  before 
whom  the  Constitution  came  for  adoption,  the  dele¬ 
gates  again  and  again  referred  to  this  original  model 
of  popular  government.  In  New  York,  for  instance, 
Robert  R.  Livingston,  the  Chancellor  of  the  State, 
refers  to  it;  so  also  John  Lansing,  who,  in  his  speech 
urging  its  adoption,  says:  “  Sir,  the  instances  from 
the  history  of  the  Jewish  Theocracy  evince  that  there 
are  certain  situations  in  communities  which  will  un¬ 
avoidably  lead  to  results  similar  to  those  we  experi¬ 
ence.  The  Israelites  were  unsuccessful  in  war;  they 
were  sometimes  defeated  by  their  enemies.  Instead  of 
reflecting  that  these  calamities  were  occasiond  by  their 
sins,  they  sought  relief  in  the  appointment  of  a  king, 
in  imitation  of  their  neighbours.”  So  also  the  Hon. 
Mr.  John  Smith,  who  quotes  in  full  the  admonition  of 
Samuel  to  the  children  of  Israel,  describing  the  man- 

[20] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

ner  in  which  a  king  would  rule  over  them.  In  short, 
again  and  again,  in  and  out  of  our  halls  of  legislation, 
was  the  history  of  the  Hebrew  Commonwealth  re¬ 
ferred  to,  narrated,  rehearsed,  and  analogies  drawn 
therefrom  by  the  advocates  of  a  republican  form  of 
government  in  answer  to  those  who  favoured  mon¬ 
archy,  so  that  the  admonitions  of  Samuel  were  as 
familiar  to  the  people  of  America  as  the  words  of 
the  Lord’s  Prayer. 

In  the  light  of  these  facts  it  is  not  at  all  sur¬ 
prising  that  the  committee,  which  was  appointed  on 
the  same  day  the  Declaration  of  Independence  was 
adopted,  consisting  of  Dr.  Franklin,  Mr.  Adams,  and 
Mr.  Jefferson,  to  prepare  a  device  for  a  seal  for  the 
United  States,  should,  as  they  did,  have  proposed 
as  such  device,  Pharaoh  sitting  in  an  open  chariot, 
*a  crown  on  his  head  and  a  sword  in  his  hand,  passing 
through  the  dividing  waters  of  the  Red  Sea,  in  pur¬ 
suit  of  the  Israelites;  with  rays  from  a  pillar  of  fire 
beaming  on  Moses,  who  is  represented  as  standing  on 
the  shore  extending  his  hand  over  the  sea,  causing  it 
to  overwhelm  Pharaoh ;  and  underneath,  the  motto : 
“  Rebellion  to  tyrants  is  obedience  to  God.” 

Dr.  David  Tappan,  who,  after  the  declaration  of 
peace,  was  chosen  professor  at  Harvard  College,  in 
the  course  of  his  lectures  on  the  “  Jewish  Antiquities  ” 

[21] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

says,  that  the  demand  of  the  children  of  Israel  to 
Samuel  to  set  a  king  over  them  was  exceedingly  dis¬ 
pleasing  to  Samuel,  and  when  he  referred  the  matter 
to  God,  the  Most  High  declared  that  by  this  act  they 
had  rejected  him ;  that  he  should  not  reign  over  them. 
46  From  hence  some  writers  have  inferred  that  mon¬ 
archy  is  in  its  very  nature  criminal ;  that  it  impiously 
invades  the  prerogative  of  the  Supreme  Ruler,  as  well 
as  the  equal  rights  of  man.”  44  This  inference,”  says 
the  learned  professor, 44  was  plausibly  enforced  on  the 
American  people,  in  the  beginning  of  the  year  1776, 
by  a  very  popular  but  desultory  writer  (doubtless 
meaning  Thomas  Paine),  and  this  sentiment,  with 
others  equally  well  timed,  operated,  with  the  swift¬ 
ness  and  force  of  the  electric  fluid,  in  preparing  the 
country  for  a  formal  separation  from  the  British 
monarch.” 

Many  more  authorities  can  be  adduced  on  the  same 
subject,  but  they  would  only  be  cumulative. 

Through  more  than  a  century  and  a  half  the  Puri¬ 
tan  ministers  never  tired  of  dwelling  upon  the  trials, 
sufferings,  and  fortitude  of  the  children  of  Israel 
during  their  long  and  weary  wanderings  from  the 
land  of  their  oppressors  until  the  organisation  of 
popular  government  on  the  banks  of  the  Jordan.  To 
what  extent  these  preachings  and  teachings  served 

[*«] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

as  an  inspiring  incentive  to  the  American  people  in 
their  heroic  struggle  for  civil  and  religious  liberty, 
and  to  what  degree  the  oft-quoted  warnings  of  the 
last  Judge  of  Israel,  followed  by  the  corroborating 
revelations  of  scriptural  history,  supplied  the  argu¬ 
ment  that  battered  down  the  enslaving  doctrine  of 
44  Divine  Right  of  Kings,”  and  its  corollaries, — 44  Un¬ 
limited  Submission,”  and  44  Non-Resistance,”  we  leave 
for  the  reader  to  draw  his  own  conclusion. 

We  neither  claim  nor  wish  to  be  understood  as  in¬ 
ferring  that  the  structural  parts  of  our  form  of  gov¬ 
ernment  were  derived  from  what  was  believed  to  be 
the  components  of  the  Hebrew  Commonwealth,  but 
only  that  this  scriptural  model  of  government,  which 
was  democratic,  as  distinguished  from  kingly  rule, 
had  a  deep  influence  upon  the  founders  of  our  gov¬ 
ernment  and  prepared  the  minds  of  the  people,  espe¬ 
cially  in  the  New  England  colonies,  so  that  they  not 
only  longed  for,  but  would  not  content  themselves 
with  any  other  form  of  government  than  that  form 
which  had  the  divine  sanction,  the  government  of 
the  Hebrews  under  the  Judges. 

Looking  backward  over  a  period  of  nearly  three 
hundred  years  it  may  be  difficult  for  us  in  this  age 
to  understand  why  the  early  Puritans  should  have 
gone  back  nearly  three  thousand  years  for  their  form 

[33] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

of  government,  but  we  must  not  forget  the  intense 
religious  spirit  of  Puritanism,  which  was  a  Protestant 
renaissance  of  the  Old  Testament  and  a  reversion  to 
biblical  precedents  for  the  regulation  of  the  minutest 
details  of  daily  life.  They  were  not  content  even  to 
administer  justice  by  the  civil  or  the  common  law, 
but  regulated  the  punishment  of  crimes  by  the  Penta¬ 
teuch,  and  in  framing  their  criminal  code  every  sec¬ 
tion  cited  the  biblical  chapter  and  verse. 

In  the  study  of  the  history  of  the  development  of 
our  form  of  government,  to  leave  out  of  account  the 
ecclesiastical  side,  freedom  from  Lords-bishop  as  well 
as  from  Lords-temporal,  is  to  overlook  not  only  im¬ 
portant  but  essential  elements.  In  the  resolution  which 
led  to  the  first  meeting  of  the  Continental  Congress, 
passed  by  the  House  of  Representatives  of  Massa¬ 
chusetts  Bay  on  June  17,  1774,  appointing  Samuel 
and  John  Adams,  Thomas  Cushing,  Robert  Treat 
Paine,  and  James  Bowdoin  a  committee  to  meet  dele¬ 
gates  and  representatives  from  the  other  colonies,  at 
a  congress  to  be  held  in  Philadelphia  the  following 
September,  the  reasons  recited  for  such  action  were 
“to  deliberate  and  determine  upon  wise  and  proper 
measures,  to  be  by  them  recommended  to  all  the  Colo¬ 
nies  for  the  Recovery  and  Establishment  of  their 
Just  Rights  and  Liberties  Civil  and  Religious.”  In 

[24] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

devising  the  plan  of  our  government,  the  founders 
not  only  drew  their  inspiration  from  first  sources, 
but  reverted  to  first  principles,  the  “  unalienable 
rights  ”  of  man.  Through  the  windows  of  the  Puri¬ 
tan  churches  of  New  England  the  new  West  looked 
back  to  the  old  East. 


[25] 


JEWS,  NOT  JEWELS,  IN 
THE  DISCOVERY  OF  AMERICA 


It  chanced  that  one  of  the  last  vessels  transporting  into 
exile  the  Jews  expelled  from  Spain  by  the  religious  intoler¬ 
ance  of  which  the  recently  created  and  odious  Tribunal  of  the 
Faith  was  the  embodiment,  passed  by  the  little  fleet  bound  in 
search  of  another  world.  As  though  the  sun  were  not  to 
shine  for  all,  as  though  the  will  of  Heaven  had  not  made  us 
equal,  the  assured  spirit  of  reaction  was  wreaking  one  of  its 
stupendous  and  futile  crimes  in  that  very  hour  when  the  genius 
of  liberty  was  searching  the  waves  for  the  land  that  must 
needs  arise  to  offer  an  unstained  abode  for  the  ideals  of  pro¬ 
gress.  Following  their  narrow  views,  the  powers  of  the  Middle 
Ages  denied  even  light  and  warmth  to  the  Jews  at  the  same 
time  that  they  revealed  a  new  creation  for  a  new  order  of 
society,  that  was  predestined  by  Providence  to  put  an  end  to 
all  intolerance,  and  to  dedicate  an  infinite  continent  to  modern 
democracy. — Emilio  Castelar. 

(This  is  Emilio  Castelar’s  comment  on  Columbus’  suggestive 
sentence  in  his  Journal,  writing  of  the  first  voyage  of  dis¬ 
covery  as  coincident  with  the  expulsion  of  the  Jews  from 
Spain:  “So  after  having  expelled  the  Jews  from  your  domin¬ 
ions  your  Highnesses  in  the  same  month  of  January,  ordered 
me  to  proceed  with  a  sufficient  armament  to  the  said  regions 
of  India.”) 


JEWS,  NOT  JEWELS,  IN  THE 
DISCOVERY  OF  AMERICA 

Those  Americans  who  to-day  turn  up  their  noses 
and  sneer  at  the  Jew  as  an  undesirable  element  in  our 
national  and  social  life,  only  display  their  own  igno¬ 
rance  of  the  part  the  despised  race  of  Israel  had  in 
the  discovery  of  our  country  and  afterwards  in  the 
colonising  and  building-up  process  of  the  virgin  land* 
Columbus  only  discovered  America  in  name.  It  was 

Jewish  money  and  Jewish  encouragement  which 

\ 

backed  the  genius  and  daring  of  the  Genoese  navi¬ 
gator  to  brave  the  terrors  of  the  unknown  seas  in 
quest  of  the  further  India,  which  was  the  lode-star 
of  his  day-visions  and  the  magnet  of  his  dreams,  and 
without  the  financial  aid  from  this  source  the  tattered 
ensign  of  Spain  would  never  have  been  the  first  flag 
placed  on  the  soil  of  the  Western  world. 

The  fifteenth  century  witnessed  many  discoveries. 
Europe  was  beginning  to  awake  from  a  long  lethargic 

[29] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

sleep  and  look  around  her  for  new  lands  into  which 
to  extend  her  commerce  and  her  arts  and  crafts.  On 
the  South  the  daring  of  her  mariners  had  penetrated 
far  beyond  the  Pillars  of  Hercules,  had  sped  around 
the  coasts  of  Sierra  Leone,  doubled  the  Cape,  and 
pointing  their  prows  northward  had  come  to  the 
land  of  gold,  lying  away  beyond  the  Tigris  and  Eu¬ 
phrates,  to  which  had  been  given  the  name  India,  and 
which  was  thought  to  be  a  part  of  King  Solomon’s 
Ophir.  From  it  an  overland  trade  had  been  estab¬ 
lished  with  the  markets  of  the  West,  and  the  mer¬ 
chants  of  Erzeroum  and  Bagdad  exchanged  their 
Oriental  products  with  their  white  brothers  beyond 
the  Bosphorus  and  the  iEgean. 

To  the  West,  the  East  became  a  land  of  fabled 
wealth,  and  India,  the  most  remote  part  of  the  then 
Orient,  was  the  land  to  which  all  eyes  were  turned. 
Columbus  looked  upon  India  as  the  Ultima  Thule  of 
the  world,  and  since  he  believed,  in  fact  knew,  that 
the  world  was  round,  he  came  to  the  conclusion  that 
by  sailing  far  enough  to  the  westward  he  could  come 
to  the  extreme  East — India.  Hence,  when  at  length 
he  did  discover  the  Western  continent,  he  actually 
believed  that  he  had  but  arrived  at  a  remote  part  of 
India,  and  so  it  was  that  he  gave  to  the  natives  the 
name  Indians,  which  has  been  applied  to  this  day. 

[30] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

Columbus  died  neglected  and  broken-hearted,  in  ig¬ 
norance  of  the  great  discovery  he  had  made  and  lit¬ 
tle  dreaming  that  his  name  would  be  perpetuated 
throughout  the  centuries  for  the  honour  and  the 
emulation  of  mankind. 

Fortunately  for  the  race  and  posterity,  Columbus 
was  a  man  of  adamantine  will,  whom  no  obstacles 
could  daunt,  no  discouragement  turn  away  from  his 
purpose.  He  got  many  rebuffs,  and  his  schemes, 
designs,  and  theories  were  regarded  as  chimerical 
and  impracticable.  He  had  been  turned  down  at  the 
court  of  Henry  VII.  of  England,  France  had  frowned 
on  him,  and  the  hope  thus  deferred  by  fate  would  have 
made  a  less  stout  heart  sick  and  discouraged,  but  the 
brave  old  Genoese  plodded  on  and  finally  succeeded  in 
getting  the  ear  of  the  Spanish  sovereigns,  Ferdinand 
and  Isabella.  Ferdinand  was  not  a  strong  historical 
character,  but  his  consort  was  a  woman  of  much  acu¬ 
men  and  characterised  by  a  strong  and  overpowering 
ambition  to  extend,  if  possible,  the  dominions  of  her 
country  and  raise  her  prestige.  She  favoured  the  plans 
of  Columbus,  but  where  were  the  funds  to  put  them 
to  the  test?  Long  wars  and  internecine  strife  had  im¬ 
poverished  Spain  and  left  her  almost  on  the  verge  of 
bankruptcy.  There  was  a  depleted  treasury,  and  how¬ 
ever  willing  Isabella  may  have  been  to  aid  the  navi- 

[31] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

gator,  she  was  powerless  under  the  circumstances,  and 
so  was  reluctantly  compelled  to  turn  Columbus  away. 
At  this  time  the  Comptroller-General  of  the  Province 
of  Arragon,  one  of  the  richest  men,  if  not  the  richest, 
in  the  kingdom,  was  one  Luis  Santangel,  a  Marano  or 
secret  Jew,  whose  family  had  withstood  the  presecu- 
tions  and  confiscations  of  his  race  and  become  a  power 
in  the  land.  He  had  heard  of  the  plans  of  Columbus, 
and  he  too  approved  of  them,  so  when  he  learned  of 
the  dismissal  of  the  Italian  navigator  he  repaired  to 
the  Royal  Court  and  besought  the  Queen  to  order  his 
return  and  grant  his  request.  When  Isabella  com¬ 
plained  of  her  inability  to  furnish  the  financial  aid 
necessary  to  the  project,  he  assured  Her  Majesty 
that  the  finances  of  the  Province  of  Arragon  alone 
were  in  such  a  flourishing  state  as  to  be  sufficient  to 
equip  whatever  expedition  Columbus  demanded  or 
required.  Doubtless  Arragon  had  been  very  mate¬ 
rially  enriched  by  the  confiscation  of  much  Jewish 
property  during  the  persecution  of  the  race  in  Spain. 

Santangel  very  speciously  plead  the  cause  of  the 
Genoese  seaman  and  represented  to  Isabella  the  great 
advantages  which  would  accrue  to  Spain  from  the  dis¬ 
covery  of  a  sea-route  to  the  land  of  gold,  India.  The 
Queen  promised  to  give  the  matter  due  consideration, 
and  in  the  meantime  Santangel  enlisted  the  influence 

[32] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

of  the  Royal  treasurer,  Gabriel  Sanchez,  another 
secret  Jew,  who  in  turn  secured  the  warm  support 
of  his  friend,  Juan  Cabrero,  also  of  Jewish  stock, 
and,  thus  reinforced,  again  made  his  appeal  on  behalf 
of  Columbus.  This  time  Isabella  consented,  promising 
to  pawn  the  royal  jewels  to  secure  funds  for  the 
expedition,  but  Santangel  had  more  than  words  to 
back  his  belief  in  Columbus ;  he  had  good  Spanish 
ducats,  and  with  a  chivalry  becoming  the  country  in 
which  he  lived,  would  not  allow  his  sovereign  to  make 
the  sacrifice,  though  indeed  it  is  to  be  doubted  much 
if  at  the  time  Isabella  had  any  jewels  to  pawn — they 
were  probably  in  the  vaults  of  her  Spanish  “  uncle  ” 
long  before — so  he,  Santangel,  out  of  his  own  private 
treasury,  furnished  the  sum  of  17,000  ducats,  then 
equivalent  to  about  $20,000,  which  would  now  be 
almost  equal  to  eight  times  that  amount. 

On  the  30th  April,  1492,  Columbus  received  the 
Royal  Commission  to  prepare  his  fleet  for  the  voyage 
of  discovery.  A  month  previously  the  edict  expelling 
Jews  from  Spain  had  been  proclaimed  in  all  public 
places  in  the  Kingdoms  of  Arragon  and  Castile. 

It  was  on  a  Friday,  August  3,  that  Columbus  set 
sail  with  his  three  small  vessels,  only  one  of  which, 
the  Santa  Maria ,  was  completely  decked,  the  other 
two,  the  Pinta  and  the  Nina,  being  merely  caravels. 

[33] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

On  the  day  before,  Thursday,  August  2,  three  hun¬ 
dred  thousand  Jews  were  driven  from  the  land  of 
their  birth,  because  they  declined  to  have  Christianity 
forced  upon  them,  and  with  the  same  hand  and  the 
same  pen  and  on  the  same  day  Ferdinand  and  Isabella 
signed  that  infamous  edict,  that  authorised  Cristobal 
Colon,  as  the  Spaniards  called  Columbus,  to  go  forth 
in  search  of  another  world,  where,  in  the  words  of 
Castelar,  the  distinguished  Spanish  publicist,  “  Crea¬ 
tion  should  be  new-born,  a  haven  be  afforded  to  the 
quickening  principles  of  human  liberty,  and  a  temple 
be  reared  to  the  God  of  enfranchised  and  redeemed 
conscience.  .  .  .  The  accursed  spirit  of  reaction 
was  wreaking  one  of  its  stupendous  and  futile  crimes 
in  that  very  hour  when  the  genius  of  liberty  was 
searching  the  waves  for  the  land  that  must  needs 
arise  to  offer  an  unstained  abode  for  the  ideals  of 
progress.”  And  so  the  last  chapter  of  the  Jews  in 
Spain  is  their  first  chapter  on  the  continent  of 
America. 

To  get  sufficient  men  for  the  crews  of  Columbus’ 
fleet,  it  was  necessary  to  throw  open  the  prison  doors, 
for  few  indeed  were  the  men  at  liberty  who  were  will¬ 
ing  to  risk  their  lives  on  the  boundless  ocean  in  such  a 
hazardous  and  adventurous  undertaking,  but  of 
course  it  was  different  with  the  prisoners,  they  might 

[34] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

as  well  face  death  on  the  deep  as  finally  succumb  to 
it  in  gloomy,  foetid  cells.  As  many  of  the  captives  in 
the  dungeon  pens  belonged  to  the  race  of  Israel, 
thrust  there  because  of  their  allegiance  to  the  ancient 
faith,  it  is  not  to  be  wondered  that  there  were  many 
Jews  under  the  command  of  the  great  navigator  in 
his  revolutionising  expedition. 

There  was  a  Jewish  interpreter,  a  Jewish  surgeon, 
and  a  Jewish  physician  in  the  fleet,  but  these  were  not 
prisoners  previous  to  the  sailing.  The  name  of  the 
interpreter  was  Luis  de  Torres,  that  of  the  surgeon 
Marco,  and  that  of  the  physician,  Bernal.  Besides 
these,  there  were  of  Jews,  Alonso  de  la  Calle,  so  called 
from  the  Jewish  quarter,  Calle ,  and  Rodrigo  San¬ 
chez,  who  was  a  distant  relative  of  the  royal  treas¬ 
urer,  Gabriel  Sanchez.  It  was  a  Jew,  Rodrigo  de 
Triana,  who  caught  the  first  glimpse  of  the  new  land 
and  called  the  attention  of  the  others  to  it,  and  it  was 
Luis  de  Torres,  taken  along  as  interpreter  because  he 
understood  Hebrew,  Chaldaic,  and  some  Arabic,  with 
a  smattering  of  other  Oriental  languages,  whom 
Columbus  thought  would  be  very  useful  in  the  coun¬ 
tries  he  expected  to  reach,  who  was  the  first  white 
man  to  tread  the  soil  of  the  Indian  Guanahani  (called 
afterwards  San  Salvador),  having  been  sent  ashore 
to  greet  the  Grand  Khan  of  India,  whose  country 

[35] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

Columbus  believed  he  had  reached  by  a  new  route. 
It  was  this  same  Luis  de  Torres  who  first  discovered 
the  use  of  tobacco  a  hundred  years  before  Sir  Walter 
Raleigh  introduced  the  weed  to  England  and  Europe. 
There  were  many  more  Jews  on  the  first  expedition  of 
Columbus.  In  fact  of  the  one  hundred  and  twenty 
souls  which  composed  it,  we  may  say  safely  that  al¬ 
most  one-fourth  was  made  up  of  adherents  of  the 
ancient  faith  of  Israel. 

The  first  letters  written  by  Columbus  describing  his 
discoveries  and  adventures  were  addressed  to  his  old 
patrons,  Santangel  and  Sanchez  the  Jews,  one  being 
written  at  Azores  on  the  return  voyage  and  the  other 
when  he  landed  back  at  Lisbon.  These  letters  are  still 
published  in  English  and  Italian,  and  show  the  deep 
sentiments  of  gratitude  the  illustrious  navigator  ex¬ 
pressed  for  his  Jewish  friends. 

It  must  be  borne  in  mind,  that  besides  a  personal, 
the  Jews  had  another  very  important  part  in  the 
discovery  of  America.  Most  of  the  success  of  Colum¬ 
bus’  voyage  depended  upon  his  scientific  knowledge, 
nautical  and  astronomical,  and  this  was  furnished  to 
him  indirectly  by  Jewish  genius  and  Jewish  brains. 
At  that  time  the  best  astronomical  work  was  “  De 
Luminaribus  et  Diebus  Criticis,”  which  was  of  great 
assistance  to  the  mariner  in  determining  his  course 

[36] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 


according  to  the  position  of  the  planets.  The  author 
of  this  work  was  Abraham  ibn  Ezra,  a  Jew.  The  in- 
vention  known  as  a  sea-quadrant  is  commonly  at¬ 
tributed  to  Regiomontanus,  but  it  has  been  estab¬ 
lished  beyond  question  that  a  Jew,  Levi  ben  Gerson, 
was  the  inventor  and  gave  it  to  the  scientific  world 
under  the  name  of  “  J acob’s  Staff.”  This  instrument 
was  used  by  Columbus  on  his  voyage,  as  was  also 
another  Jewish  invention  for  taking  the  sun’s  declina¬ 
tion  or  meridian  altitude  for  the  purpose  of  determin¬ 
ing  the  location  in  the  day-time.  And  yet  another 
instrument,  used  for  measuring  the  altitude  of  the 
Polar  Star,  also  invented  by  a  Jew,  came  to  the  aid 
of  the  mariner  in  his  quest  for  the  unknown  land. 
Thus,  indirectly,  the  success  of  the  voyage  may  be 
attributed  to  Jewish  brains. 

In  addition,  the  maps  which  the  navigator  daily 
consulted,  though  not5  of  course,  covering  the  immeas- 
ureable  wastes  of  the  Atlantic,  were  drawn  up  by  a 
Jew,  Jehuda  Cresques,  who  was  nicknamed  the  46  Map- 
Jew.”  He  was  director  of  the  Portuguese  Academy  at 
Sayres  and  instructor  in  the  art  of  navigation,  besides 
a  manufacturer  of  nautical  instruments  and  maps ;  he 
made  many  improvements  in  the  compass  and  in  the 
application  of  astronomy  to  navigation. 

Columbus  also  derived  great  assistance  from  the 

[37] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

astronomical  tables  of  Abraham  Zacuto,  a  Jew. 
These  tables  were  translated  from  the  Hebrew  into 
Latin  and  Spanish  by  Joseph  Vecincho,  another  Jew, 
who  was  the  pupil  of  Zacuto,  and  who  became  dis¬ 
tinguished  as  a  physician,  cosmographer,  and  mathe¬ 
matician.  He  presented  a  copy  of  the  Tables  to  Col¬ 
umbus  which,  with  notes  and  glossaries,  still  exists  in 
Spain. 

Indeed  it  can  be  truly  said  that  the  attempt  of 
Columbus  to  sail  over  unknown  seas  in  quest  of  new 
lands  which  he  considered  formed  part  of  India,  would 
have  been  abortive  and  ended  in  failure  had  it  not 
been  for  the  assistance  he  derived  financially,  phys¬ 
ically  and  mentally,  directly  and  indirectly  from  the 
Jews,  not  to  speak  at  all  of  the  money  which  San- 
tangel  furnished  and  which  made  the  expedition  at  all 
possible. 

*  » 


[38] 


THE  JEWS  IN  EARLY  AMERICA 


The  world  has  by  this  time  discovered  that  it  is  impossible 
to  destroy  the  Jews.  The  attempt  to  extirpate  them  has  been 
made  under  the  most  favourable  auspices  and  on  the  largest 
scale;  the  most  considerable  means  that  man  could  command 
have  been  pertinaciously  applied  to  this  object  for  the  longest 
period  of  recorded  time.  Egyptian  pharaohs,  Assyrian  kings, 
Roman  emperors,  Scandinavian  crusaders,  Gothic  princes,  and 
holy  inquisitors  have  alike  devoted  their  energies  to  the  ful¬ 
filment  of  this  common  purpose.  Expatriation,  exile,  captivity, 
confiscation,  torture  on  the  most  ingenious  and  massacre  on  the 
most  extensive  scale;  a  curious  system  of  degrading  customs 
and  debasing  laws  which  would  have  broken  the  heart  of 
another  people,  have  been  tried  in  vain.  The  Jews,  after  all 
this  havoc,  probably  more  numerous  at  this  date  than  they 
were  during  the  reign  of  Solomon  the  Wise,  are  found  in  all 
lands,  and  prospering  in  most.  All  which  proves  that  it  is  in 
vain  for  man  to  attempt  to  baffle  the  inexorable  law  of  Nature, 
which  has  decreed  that  a  superior  race  shall  never  be  destroyed 
or  absorbed  by  an  inferior. — Lord  Beaconsfield. 


II 


THE  JEWS  IN  EARLY  AMERICA 

Columbus,  as  has  been  said,  died  ignorant  of  his 
grand  discovery,  thinking  to  the  last  that  the 
strange,  flower-decked  islands  upon  which  his  eyes 
had  rested  in  rapturous  delight  were  but  a  part  of 
eastern  coast  of  Asia,  which  was  known  as  further 
India,  hence  to  them  were  given  the  name  of  the 
West  Indies,  which  they  still  retain.  In  all,  Columbus 
made  three  voyages,  looking  for  the  first  time  on 
the  mainland  of  the  American  continent  on  May  30, 
1498. 

As  soon  as  the  hitherto  unknown  gates  of  the 

Western  world  were  thrown  open  to  the  white  man, 

Europe,  in  a  frenzy  of  excitement,  turned  her  gaze 

towards  the  new  country  from  which  Columbus  and  his 

» 

sailors  had  brought  glowing  accounts,  for  in  the 
perspective  of  ambition,  she  saw  the  possibilities  it 
held  and  how  she  could  use  them  to  enrich  herself. 
Hardy  mariners  from  the  Tiber  to  the  Tagus 

[41] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

launched  their  sharp-nosed  barks  on  the  vast  ocean 
which  had  been  robbed  of  its  terrors  since  the  daring 
Genoese  had  conquered  it,  and  steered  towards  the 
land  of  the  setting  sun  in  quest  of  fame  and  gold.  A 
list  of  these  adventurers  would  read  like  a  regimental 
roll-call.  Of  them  all,  Amerigo  Vespucci,  a  Floren¬ 
tine  navigator,  who  made  no  less  than  seven  voy¬ 
ages  to  the  newly-discovered  country,  has  had  the 
honour  of  giving  the  name  to  the  Western  continent 
(America),  though  it  is  said  John  Cabot,  the  Eng¬ 
lishman,  was  ahead  of  him  in  setting  foot  on  the 
mainland. 

It  is  not  to  the  purpose  here  to  follow  the  different 
migrations  from  the  European  countries  that  settled 
down  at  various  points  on  the  maritime  boundary  of 
the  new  world.  The  Spaniards,  of  course,  came  over 
in  great  numbers  and  were  the  first  colonisers  to  pene¬ 
trate  into  the  wooded  and  unknown  regions  of  the 
West;  they  were  followed  by  their  neighbours,  the 
French,  who  settled  in  the  northern  part,  to  which 
they  gave  the  name  Acadia.  The  English  first  arrived 
in  1607  and  took  up  a  tract  of  land  along  a  softly- 
flowing  river  which  they  called  the  James,  in  honour 
of  the  reigning  king,  the  first  James  of  England,  but 
the  sixth  of  Scotland  and  fore-runner  of  the  cowardly 
House  of  Stuart;  these  British  colonists  named  that 

[42] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

‘  part  of  the  country  in  which  they  had  settled  also  in 
honour  of  a  British  sovereign,  their  late  liege-lady, 
the  Virgin  (?)  Queen  (Elizabeth),  hence  the  name 
Virginia.  It  was  not,  however,  until  1620  that  the 
first  English  Colony  was  established  at  Plymouth  and 
the  sea-board  district  in  which  it  was  situate,  termed 
New  England.  It  was  in  this  year  also  that  the  first 
negroes  were  brought  over  from  Africa  in  a  Dutch 
vessel.  Various  other  colonies  of  Europeans  settled  in 
different  parts,  but  finally,  in  1760,  Canada  and  many 
of  the  other  settlements  became  an  appanage  of  the 
British  Crown,  but  the  English  conquest  was  short¬ 
lived. 

Writhing  under  British  tyranny  and  British  taxes, 
the  Colonies  struck  for  freedom,  and  the  shots  fired 
at  Lexington  and  Concord,  which  reverberated  around 
the  world,  practically  gave  birth  to  freedom  on  the 
soil  of  peerless  America.  In  1776  the  American  Con¬ 
gress  published  the  celebrated  Declaration  of  Inde¬ 
pendence,  the  Magna  Charta  of  Civil  and  Religious 
Liberty,  the  war  of  the  Revolution  was  on  and  history , 
tells  the  sequel. 

To-day  America  sits  in  the  western  sunshine  with 
the  crown  of  freedom  on  her  fair  brow  and  smiles  a 
welcome  to  every  race,  but  at  the  same  time  frowns  a 
defiance  to  alien  governments.  All  who  wish  may  take 

[43] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

their  place  beneath  the  shimmering  folds  of  her  starry 
flag,  but  they  must  subscribe  to  her  customs  and  obey 
her  laws,  sink  their  own  nationality  and  stand  before 
the  world — Americans. 

The  greatness  and  the  glory,  the  fame  and  for¬ 
tune,  the  prestige  and  prosperity  of  this  unap¬ 
proached  and  unapproachable  land  which  we  to-day 
feel  proud  and  honoured  to  claim  as  Mother,  have 
been  contributed  by  the  men  and  women  of  every  race 
and  every  class  and  every  creed  beneath  the  sun,  some 
more,  some  less,  but  all  giving  their  quota  of  strength 
to  build  the  adamantine  foundation  upon  which  rest 
her  present  liberty  and  civilisation. 

Can  anyone  stand  up  and  say  that  the  race  of 
Israel  did  not  contribute  its  share  and  more  than  its 
share  to  the  up-building  of  free  America?  From  that 
sunny  August  day  in  1492,  when  Columbus  and  his 
intrepid  crews  set  sail  from  the  port  of  Palos,  Jews 
have  been  coming  to  America  and  almost  all  have  done 
their  duty,  and  done  it  well  to  the  country  that  opened 
her  doors  to  let  them  in  to  a  haven  of  safety  from 
the  tyranny  and  persecution  to  which  they  were  being 
subjected  by  the  effete  civilisations  of  decadent 
Europe. 

No  people  of  whom  history  makes  mention  has 
suffered  so  much  as  the  Jews  and  none  have  clung 

[44]  • 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

with  such  undying  tenacity  to  the  faith  of  their 
fathers  and  the  traditions  of  their  race.  Fire  and 
famine,  sword  and  dungeon,  the  rack  and  the  gibbet, 
the  thumbscrew  and  the  knout,  and  every  other  ma¬ 
chination  of  torture  that  hellish  vengeance  and  per¬ 
secution  could  devise,  have  had  no  terrors  for  these 
strong-willed  children  of  the  early  Fathers,  as  with  a 
smile  on  their  dark,  Semitic  faces,  they  went  forth 
to  their  inevitable  doom  with  their  last  dying  glance 
looking  proudly  to  Heaven,  imploring  the  God  of 

Abraham,  of  Isaac,  and  of  Jacob  to  avenge  their 

✓ 

wrongs. 

Despite  the  infamies  and  atrocities  to  which  they 
have  been  subjected,  this  wonderful  people  are  as 
strong  to-day  as  in  the  days  of  their  pristine  vigour. 
Like  the  phoenix  they  seem  to  arise  from  their  own 
ashes.  The  blood  of  their  martyrs  has  fertilised  the 
soil  to  bring  forth  a  goodly  crop.  There  are  more  than 
11,000,000  Jews  in  the  world  to-day,  an  increase  of 
4,000,000  since  the  time  of  David,  when  the  44  chosen 
people  ”  dwelt  in  peace  and  contentment,  watering 
their  flocks  by  the  tributaries  of  the  Jordan  in  the 
Land  of  Moab.  Of  course,  at  the  present  time,  they  are 
wanderers  over  the  earth  without  a  country  of  their 
own,  but  let  us  not  forget  that  they  had  a  home  and 
a  country  thousands  of  years  before  the  trumpet  of 

[45] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

civilisation  woke  Europe  from  the  sleep  of  barbarism. 
They  were  lusty  and  vigorous  before  Babylon  or 

s 

Nineveh  reared  their  temples  to  the  sky ;  they  were 
learned  before  Rameses  I.  cut  his  hieroglyphics  on 
the  obelisks  of  Egypt ;  they  were  skilled  architects 
before  the  Pharaohs  dreamt  of  laying  the  first  stones 
of  the  pyramids ;  they  were  warriors  skilled  in  arms 
before  the  Grecian  hosts  swooped  down  on  the  plains 
of  Troy;  they  had  cities  before  Romulus- and  Remus 
traced  the  wall  of  imperial  Rome,  and  they  had  poets, 
bards,  philosophers,  and  scholars  before  the  blind 
beggar-man  of  Scios  lisped  his  numbers  in  the  myrtle 
groves  of  Greece.  They  have  seen  Assyria,  Carthage, 
Babylonia,  Greece,  and  Rome  sink  under  the  ruins  of 
their  own  magnificence  ;  they  have  witnessed  the  ascent 
of  the  Crescent  and  looked  upon  the  rise  of  the  Cross, 
and  through  all  they  have  kept  their  eyes  calmly, 
steadily  on  the  Star  of  Israel,  whose  light  burns  as 
bright  to-day  as  when  it  first  rose  over  the  Eastern 
hills  and  shone  down  on  the  shepherd  kings  of  Chal¬ 
dea,  and  though  they  have  lost  their  country  they 
still  look  to  the  Star  of  Jacob  to  guide  them  back  to 
the  inheritance  that  should  be  theirs. 

Europe  never  looked  with  kindly  eyes  upon  the 
Jew,  she  never  extended  to  him  the  right  hand  of 
fellowship,  and  organic  Christianity  only  made  her 

[46] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

regard  him  with  feeling  of  greater  revulsion,  for  she 
ignorantly  identified  the  whole  race  with  the  cruci¬ 
fixion  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  the  Founder  of  her  re¬ 
ligion.  Her  hate,  however,  gave  the  lie  to  the  Chris¬ 
tianity  in  whose  name  the  tempest-furies  of  her  wrath 
were  unleashed,  and  the  Jews  are  not  the  only  excep¬ 
tion  where  Christianity  has  let  loose  the  dogs  of  war 
in  the  name  of  the  Prince  of  Peace.  The  English  per¬ 
secuted  the  Catholics  in  Ireland,  the  Huguenots 
suffered  in  France,  the  Lutherans  were  harassed  in 
Germany ;  in  short,  bigotry,  in  the  name  of  religion, 
has  ridden  rough-shod  over  countless  multitudes 
whose  only  crime  consisted  in  following  the  light  of 
their  own  conscience.  It  is  not  to  be  wondered  that 
the  Jews  came  to  look  upon  sufferance  as  natural 
and  as  their  lot  in  life,  but  still  they  did  not  like  to 
lie  down  and  die  supinely  as  dogs  beneath  the  iron 
heel  of  the  oppressor.  They  had  bodies  to  be  cared, 
souls  to  be  saved,  and  a  manhood  to  assert,  but  the 
odds  against  them  were  overwhelming.  For  hundreds 
of  years  they  had  been  oppressed,  impoverished,  im¬ 
prisoned,  burned,  expelled,  and  they  had  no  retreat 
to  which  they  could  flee  from  the  fury  of  their  ene¬ 
mies  ;  they  were  surrounded  on  all  sides ;  they  had  no 
refuge  but  the  grave. 

With  the  discovery  of  America  by  Columbus  came 

[47] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

a  ray  of  hope  to  these  children  of  the  ancient  race; 
in  the  new  land  they  would  seek  the  home  and  safety 
denied  them  in  the  old.  They  sought  and  found  both. 

Brazil  was  the  first  part  of  the  Western  world  to 
give  a  home  to  the  European  Jew.  That  country  was 
discovered  in  1499  by  Pinzon,  and  independently  the 
following  year  by  Pedro  Alvarez  de  Cabral,  who  was 
ably  assisted  by  a  Jewish  mariner  named  Gaspar,  a 
man  who  received  warm  commendation  for  his  skill 
and  daring  from  Amerigo  Vespucci  himself.  Immedi¬ 
ately  crowds  of  Jews  came  flocking  to  Brazil,  Portu¬ 
gal  alone  sending  two  shiploads  annually  for  some 
years;  ’tis  said  that  these  Portuguese  Jews  introduced 
the  sugar-cane,  which  has  furnished  such  a  staple 
article  of  commerce  since.  The  exodus  of  the  Jews 
was  so  great  to  Brazil  that  in  1557  an  edict  was 
passed  by  the  Home  Government  forbidding  Maranos 
(secret  Jews)  to  leave  Portugal,  and  at  the  same  time 
a  law  was  passed  by  the  Spanish  colonies  prohibiting 
the  settlement  of  Jews.  This  prohibition  was  removed 
in  1577  on  payment  by  the  Jews  of  1,700,000  cru¬ 
zados,  or  about  $714,000. 

The  Jews  who  had  come  to  Brazil  under  Portuguese 
auspices  were  largely  supplemented  by  Dutch  con¬ 
tingents,  and  both  helped  the  Dutch  West  India  Com¬ 
pany  to  get  a  permanent  settlement.  In  1642  a  party 

[48] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

of  600  additional  Jews  arrived  from  Amsterdam. 
Among  these  were  Hakam  Isaac  Aboab,  who  was 
the  first  Rabbi  to  expound  the  Jewish  doctrine  on  the 
continent  of  America,  and  Ephraim  Sueiro,  step¬ 
brother  to  Manasseh  ben  Israel,  the  great  Dutch 
polyhistor,  rabbi,  and  polemical  writer,  whose  par¬ 
ents  had  migrated  from  Lisbon  to  Amsterdam.  Be¬ 
fore  1654  there  were  more  than  5000  Jews  in  Brazil 
who  enjoyed  the  same  rights  as  their  fellow-citizens 
and  rendered  valuable  services  both  in  civil  and  mili¬ 
tary  life,  but  in  this  year  the  Portuguese  conquest 
of  the  Dutch  in  Brazil  led  to  the  breaking  up  of  the 
Jewish  colony.  Many  returned  to  Amsterdam,  some 
went  to  the  French  settlements  of  South  America, 
some  remained  as  Maranos,  that  is,  they  outwardly 
denied  their  religion  for  policy’s  sake,  while  inwardly 
clinging  to  its  every  tenet,  and  about  twenty-three  of 
the  fugitives,  enamoured  of  the  Dutch  consideration 
they  had  experienced  in  Brazil,  made  their  way  north 
to  the  Dutch  colony  of  New  Amsterdam,  and  there 
on  a  strip  of  land  which  afterwards  came  to  be  known 
as  Manhattan  Island,  formed  the  nucleus  of  the  first 
Jewish  colony  on  the  North  American  continent, 
though  there  seems  to  be  evidence  that  Jews,  soldiers 
and  sailors,  reached  New  Amsterdam,  as  New  York 
City  was  then  called,  as  early  as  1652,  having  been 

[49] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

sent  here  by  the  Directors  of  the  West  India  Com¬ 
pany. 

At  this  time  the  Governor  was  Peter  Stuyvesant,  a 
stern,  unbending,  narrow-minded  bigot,  whose  veins 
had  been  inoculated  with  the  virus  of  Calvinism  and 
to  whom  all  other  sects  were  insufferable,  especially 
the  Jews;  therefore,  with  characteristic  alacrity,  de¬ 
spite  his  wooden  leg,  he  began  preparations  to  have 
the  Jews  banished  from  the  community.  He  peti¬ 
tioned  his  employers,  the  Dutch  West  India  Company, 
for  permission  to  drive  them  beyond  the  pale  of 
the  New  Netherlands,  but  the  worthy  directors  were 
more  tolerant  than  their  representative,  to  whom  they 
replied,  saying,  that  his  request  t£  was  inconsistent 
with  reason  and  justice.”  To  further  show  their  dis¬ 
approbation  of  Stuyvesant’s  bigotry,  they  passed  an 
act  permitting  the  Jews  to  reside  and  trade  in  New 
Netherlands,  stipulating  that  they — the  Jews — would 
care  for  their  own  poor,  to  which  they  willingly  ac¬ 
quiesced.  From  time  immemorial  it  has  been  char¬ 
acteristic  of  the  Jews  to  look  out  for  the  destitute 
classes  among  their  race. 

In  the  following  year  the  Jewish  colony  was  aug¬ 
mented  from  Holland,  and  in  addition,  remnants  of 
the  Brazilian  Jewry  were  still  making  their  way 
northward,  so  that  in  a  short  time  there  was  a  goodly 

[50] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

number  of  the  race  interspersed  among  the  Dutch 
colonists.  Stuyvesant  was  inwardly  fuming  at  the 
increase,  but  he  was  powerless  to  check  it  or  in  any 
way  make  trouble  for  the  Jews,  for  he  had  again 
been  instructed  by  the  Company  to  see  to  it,  6<  that 
the  Jews  enjoy  all  the  civil  and  political  rights  in 
New  Netherlands  which  would  be  accorded  to  them  in 
Amsterdam.”  This  settled  it,  and  the  Jews  were  left 
in  peace  to  go  their  ways  and  pursue  whatever  avoca¬ 
tion  they  deemed  best. 

Most  of  these  early  colonists  were  of  Sephardic 
stock  (descendants  of  the  Jews  who  were  expelled 
from  Spain  and  Portugal),  and  besides  those  who 
came  from  Brazil  and  the  West  Indies  were  made  up 
of  the  emigrations  from  Portugal  and  Holland, 
though  but  a  short  time  elapsed  before  a  contingent 
arrived  from  England,  to  be  followed  closely  after 
by  a  large  number  of  German  and  Polish  Jews,  but  of 
course  all  of  these  did  not  settle  down  among  their 
co-religionists  in  the  New  Netherlands.  They  scat¬ 
tered  all  over  New  York  State,  Pennsylvania,  Mary¬ 
land,  Virginia,  and  South  Carolina.  Among  the  pio¬ 
neers  of  the  New  Netherlands  colony  of  Jews  there  are 
many  names  which  have  come  down  to  us  as  repre¬ 
sentative  of  men  who  laboured  long  and  earnestly 
to  give  their  brethren  a  firm  footing  in  the  new  coun- 

[51] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

try.  The  first  two  to  arrive,  November  9,  1654,  in  the 
ship  Pear  Tree ,  whose  names  have  been  handed 
down,  were  Jacob  Aboaf  and  Jacob  Barsimson,  and 
these  at  once  began  to  plan  for  the  reception  of  those 
that  were  to  follow,  a  party  of  twenty-three  who  ar¬ 
rived  in  the  bark  St.  Catarina  from  Brazil.  These 
fugitives  were  not  able  to  pay  the  master  of  the  vessel 
that  brought  them,  and  accordingly  two  of  their  num¬ 
ber,  David  Israel  and  Moses  Ambrosius,  were  held 
as  hostages  until  the  obligation  was  satisfied. 

One  of  the  sturdiest  of  the  New  Amsterdam  colony 
was  Asser  Levy,  who,  it  is  said,  was  the  first  Jew  that 
ever  owned  real  estate  in  America,  being  the  owner 
of  a  parcel  of  land  on  which  the  Capitol  at  Albany 
now  stands.  Much  credit  is  given  to  this  man  for  the 
indomitable  spirit  he  displayed  in  demanding  justice 
for  his  race;  Step  by  step  he  fought  every  grievance 
and  disability  under  which  they  laboured,  until  in  the 
end  he  finally  triumphed  by  obtaining  for  them  equal 
rights  with  their  fellow  men.  He  himself  was  refused 
permission  to  become  a  soldier  and  stand  guard  like 
the  other  burghers,  but  he  made  such  a  strong  and 
unanswerable  plea  to  the  home  authorities  that  the 
permission  was  granted,  as  also  every  other  privilege 
which  the  rest  of  the  colonists  enjoyed. 

Abraham  de  Lucena  was  another  hardy  pioneer 

[52] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

who  fought  consistently  and  well  for  his  brothers 
of  the  faith ;  not  alone  did  he  look  after  their  interests 
when  living,  but  his  solicitude  surrounded  them  when 
dead.  The  Jews  had  been  again  and  again  refused 
land  for  a  burial-plot,  but  Lucena  agitated  so  vigor¬ 
ously  that  in  the  end  he  was  successful  in  securing  a 
cemetery  plot  for  the  respectable  interment  of  the 
dead.  Though  Asser  Levy  had  so  broken  down  the 
wall  of  bigotry  and  prejudice  as  to  be  permitted  to 
purchase  real  estate,  that  privilege  was  strenuously  de¬ 
nied  to  D’Andrade,  as  well  as  to  all  others,  for 
Stuyvesant,  together  with  the  majority  of  his  coun¬ 
cil,  were  violently  opposed  to  the  race  obtaining  any 
permanent  footing  in  the  land.  Indeed  the  open  hos¬ 
tility  of  Stuyvesant  to  the  Jews  never  for  a  moment 
abated,  and  he  seems  to  have  been  implacable  in  his 
enmity.  He  would  not  let  them  trade  as  far  north 
as  Fort  Orange  (Albany),  or  as  far  in  the  other 
direction  as  the  South  River  (Delaware),  and  in 
numberless  other  wrays  showed  his  petty  spite  and 
smallness  of  character. 

In  1664  the  British  swooped  down  on  New  Amster¬ 
dam,  captured  it,  and  in  honour  of  the  Duke  of  York, 
afterwards  the  cowardly  James  II.,  they  named  it 
New  York.  How  the  Jews  fared  under  the  British 
is  a  matter  of  much  conjecture,  as  there  is  very  little 

[53] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

historical  data  on  which  to  found  authentic  state¬ 
ments.  Nothing  definite  is  known  concerning  them  for 
a  period  of  more  than  fifty  years  posterior  to  the 
English  conquest  of  the  Dutch,  but  it  is  supposed 
that  during  this  period  they  increased  but  little,  as  no 
immigration  from  the  44  old  country  ”  augmented 
their  ranks.  That  they  enjoyed  religious  freedom  is 
evidenced  by  the  fact  that  in  1682  they  rented  a 
wooden  building  in  Mill  Street  for  the  purpose  of 
public  worship.  However,  it  was  not  until  1729  that 
they  had  a  real  synagogue. 

In  1719  a  riot  broke  out  in  New  York,  which,  ac¬ 
cording  to  Governor  Clinton’s  report  to  London,  was 
directed  44  against  a  Jew  and  his  wife.”  These  un¬ 
fortunates,  according  to  the  Governor’s  testimony, 
had  but  recently  arrived  from  Holland,  where  they 
had  lived  in  handsome  style,  44  even  to  keeping  their 
coach,”  but  had  been  reduced  by  misfortune.  A  Mr. 
Delaney  appears  to  have  been  the  leader  in  the  as¬ 
sault,  and  he,  with  several  others,  44  with  their  faces 
blackened  and  otherwise  disguised,  smashed  all  the 
windows,  broke  open  the  door,  and  tore  everything  to 
pieces.”  The  outcome  appears  to  have  been  more 
satisfactory  to  several  members  of  the  bar  than  to 
the  unfortunate  Hebrew,  for  Governor  Clinton  avers 
that  44  the  Jew  was  advised  to  go  to  Mr.  Murray,  the 

[54] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

attorney,  for  his  opinion,  who  took  a  fee,  and  advised 
him  not  to  take  up  the  case,  as  the  persons  concerned 
were  related  to  the  principal  people  of  the  town. 
Mr.  Chambers  advised  the  like,  and  told  him  he  would 
be  ruined  if  he  proceeded  against  them.  Mr.  Smith 
advised  the  same.” 

From  the  period  of  the  above  riot  to  the  Revolu¬ 
tion  there  was  but  little  increase  in  the  Jewish  popu¬ 
lation.  During  the  troubled  era  of  the  war  for  free¬ 
dom  the  Jews  of  New  York  were  divided  in  their 
opinions,  the  majority,  however,  inclining  to  the 
patriot  cause,  among  whom  was  the  minister  of  the 
congregation,  Gershom  Mendes  Seixas,  who  as  soon 
as  the  British  entered  the  town,  stripped  the  syna¬ 
gogue  of  all  its  belongings  and  with  a  few  of  his 
faithful  followers  fled  to  Philadelphia,  where  he 
founded  another  congregation,  which  he  named  the 
Mickve  Israel. 

It  must  be  remembered  that  the  Jews  had  made 
mighty  strides  before  the  Revolutionary  fires  were 
kindled,  though  their  numbers  had  not  materially  in¬ 
creased.  Some  of  them  had  become  men  of  wealth 
and  influence  in  the  community.  Hayman  Levy  had 
become  a  power  in  the  land  as  a  merchant;  in  fact, 
was  the  merchant-prince  of  that  day.  He  carried 
on  an  extensive  fur  business  and  traded  in  valuable 

[55] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

skins  with  the  Indians.  Owing  to  Parliamentary  re¬ 
striction,  however,  and  the  colonial  policy  pursued 
by  the  government,  which  almost  ruined  all  business, 
he  failed  in  1768,  but  the  assignees  were  enabled  to 
discharge  the  whole  of  the  indebtedness  with  interest. 
Again,  in  1776,  the  great,  fire  destroyed  all  his  prop¬ 
erty,  but  he  started  afresh  and  carried  on  the  fur 
business  until  his  death  in  1790. 

It  was  while  in  Levy’s  employ  that  John  Jacob 
Astor,  founder  of  the  family  of  that  name  in  America, 
gained  his  first  experience  of  the  fur  trade,  whereby 
he  laid  the  foundation  of  the  fortune  which  he  after¬ 
wards  made  in  real  estate.  He  received  a  dollar  a  day 
from  Levy  for  beating  skins.  Another  of  Levy’s  em¬ 
ployees  was  Nicholas  Low,  ancestor  of  Seth  Low, 
former  mayor  of  New  York  city.  This  Low  laid  the 
foundation  of  his  great  fortune  in  a  hogshead  of  rum 
purchased  from  his  former  employer,  who  rendered 
him  much  financial  assistance. 

Samson  Simson  was  another  extensive  Jewish  mer¬ 
chant  of  the  time  and  a  ship-owner  as  well — a  man 
of  strict  integrity  and  great  liberality,  who  aggres¬ 
sively  resisted  the  British  Government. 

When  the  fires  of  the  Revolution  had  been  quenched 
on  a  hundred  battlefields,  many  of  the  Jews  who  had 
left  returned  to  New  York  and  fell  into  line  with  the 

[56] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

rest  of  their  co-religionists  and  began  with  a  will  to 
upbuild  the  fortune  of  the  infant  Republic.  Ephraim 
Hart,  a  man  popular  with  all  classes,  on  May  17, 
1792,  with  twenty-one  others,  organised  the  first 
board  of  stock-brokers  in  the  New  York  Stock  Ex¬ 
change.  He  was  State  Senator  in  1810,  and  at  his 
death  was  a  partner  of  John  Jacob  Astor. 

Bernard  Hart,  in  view  of  his  distinguished  commer¬ 
cial  position,  social  distinction,  and  great  humanity, 
towered  aloft  among  the  magnates  of  the  city.  Dur¬ 
ing  the  prevalence  of  the  yellow  fever  in  New  York 
in  1795  he  worked  night  and  day  among  the  sick  and 
dying,  and  was  declared  by  a  writer  of  the  time  “  an 
angel  of  mercy  in  the  awful  days  of  that  great  pesti¬ 
lence.”  There  were  scores  of  other  Jewish  merchants 
at  this  period  in  New  York,  famed  for  their  philan¬ 
thropy  and  charity.  The  prosperity  of  the  Jews  at 
this  time  is  attested  by  Lord  Bellamont’s  reports  in 
October,  1770,  advising  the  English  Government  that 
he  has  “  much  trouble  in  paying  the  soldiers’  subsist¬ 
ence  in  money  weekly,”  that  they  “  would  advance  no 
money  whatever  on  his  orders,  so  that  were  it  not  for 
one  Dutch  merchant  and  two  or  three  Jews  that  lent 
me  money  I  should  have  been  undone.” 

The  prohibition  against  the  Jews  going  into  retail 
trade,  which  was  a  Dutch  law  that  somehow  remained 

[57] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

operative  under  English  law,  was  gradually  dropped, 
for  we  find  Jews  engaged  in  retail  trade  in  numerous 
instances  in  the  eighteenth  century. 

On  a  question  concerning  the  contested  seat  of 
Colonel  Frederick  Phillips  of  Westchester  County, 
the  General  Assembly  of  New  York  on  September  23, 
1737,  resolved  that  Jews  could  neither  vote  for  repre¬ 
sentatives  nor  be  admitted  as  witnesses.  The  Jews  in 
New  York  were  not  on  a  footing  of  political  equality 
with  Christians  prior  to  the  Revolution.  By  the  first 
Constitution  of  the  State  of  New  York,  adopted  in 
1777,  they  were  put  on  an  absolute  equality  with  all 
other  citizens,  and  thus  New  York  was  the  first  State 
to  actually  give  full  religious  liberty  to  the  Jew. 

In  the  other  centres  of  the  country  where  the  Jews 
had  made  settlements  they  showed,  when  unmolested, 
that  they  could  be  a  thrifty,  law-abiding  people  who 
attended  to  their  own  affairs.  Many  of  the  race  who 
had  settled  in  New  Amsterdam,  chafing  under  the 
petty  tyranny  of  Stuyvesant,  were  attracted  to  Rhode 
Island  by  the  broad-mindedness  of  Roger  Williams, 
who  himself  had  experienced  the  iron  heel  of  bigotry, 
and  who  was  not  only  the  pioneer  of  religious  liberty 
in  America,  but  the  first  true  type  of  an  American 
freeman.  Williams  fearlessly  proclaimed  his  prin¬ 
ciples  in  these  words :  “  I  desire  not  the  liberty  to 

[58] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

myself  which  I  would  not  freely  and  impartially  weigh 
out  to  all  the  consciences  of  the  world  beside.” 

In  1 65£  the  colony  of  Rhode  Island  enacted  that 
“  all  men  of  whatever  nation  soever  they  may  be, 
that  shall  be  received  inhabitants  of  any  of  the  towns, 
shall  have  the  same  privileges  as  Englishmen,  any  law 
to  the  contrary,  notwithstanding,”  and  thus  was  the 
little  tract  of  land  made  the  Mecca  for  all  who  sought 
full  liberty,  fraternity,  and  equality. 

For  many  years  prior  to  the  Revolution  Newport 
was  one  of  the  principal  cities  of  the  American  col¬ 
onies,  ranking  with  Boston  and  Philadelphia  in  com¬ 
mercial  importance,  and  to  say  that  New  York  would 
equal  Newport  in  importance  some  day  was  considered 
the  vapouring  of  irresponsibility. 

Soon  after  the  New  Amsterdam  Jews  had  sought 
the  paternal  government  of  Roger  Williams  they  were 
joined  by  others  of  their  race  from  Spain,  from 
Jamaica,  from  Portugal,  from  Holland,  and  several 
other  centres  of  the  Semitic  people.  In  1658  fifteen 
Jewish  families  arrived  together  from  Holland,  and 
there  has  been  handed  down  definite  and  unquestion¬ 
able  knowledge  that  among  these  families  were  sev¬ 
eral  members  of  the  Masonic  Order,  who  for  the  first 
time  introduced  it  to  America  and  exemplified  the 
first  degree  of  Masonry.  As  early  as  1658  religious 

[59] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

services  were  held  in  Newport.  In  this  community 
many  of  the  race,  too,  rose  to  high  eminence  as  mer¬ 
chants,  and  the  names  of  Lopez,  Hart,  Rivera  and 
Pollock  were  in  the  foremost  ranks  of  the  commerce 
of  the  world.  At  one  time  Lopez  owned  as  many  as 
thirty  vessels.  Rivera,  who  originally  came  from  Por¬ 
tugal,  was  the  first  to  introduce  the  manufacture  of 
spermaceti  in  America. 

In  1763  a  synagogue  was  completed  and  the  Rev. 
Isaac  Touro,  a  rabbi  from  Jamaica,  was  chosen  as 
minister.  At  this  time  there  were  about  seventy  Jew¬ 
ish  families  in  the  town  and  all  attended  worship.  In 
this  Newport  synagogue  was  preached  the  first  Jewish 
sermon  ever  delivered  in  America ;  the  preacher  was 
rabbi  Hayyim  Isaac  Karigel,  from  the  Biblical  city 
of  Hebron  in  Palestine,  and  who  spoke  in  the  Spanish 
language;  the  sermon  was  afterwards  published  in 
English;  the  date  of  this  memorable  event  was  May 
28,  1773.  The  population  of  Jews  at  this  time  com¬ 
prised  not  less  than  two  hundred  families.  These,  in 
a  great  measure,  were  dispersed  by  the  war,  never 
to  reassemble  again,  and  thus  Newport  passed  away 
as  a  Jewish  centre  in  America. 

Washington  was  presented  with  an  address  by 
whatever  Jews  that  remained,  as  he  was  passing 
through  the  town  in  August,  1790,  and  was  enter- 

[60] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

tained  at  the  home  of  Moses  Isaacs,  who  espoused 
warmly  the  side  of  the  patriots. 

In  Pennsylvania  the  Jews  did  not  altogether  settle 
in  Philadelphia,  but  penetrated  into  the  interior  and 
formed  colonies  around  Schaeffersville  and  Lancaster. 
Besides,  unlike  their  co-religionists  in  New  Nether¬ 
lands  and  Rhode  Island,  they  were  mostly  German 
Jews.  Among  them  also  were  many  men  of  impor¬ 
tance.  In  1740  Joseph  Simon  was  the  largest  real 
estate  holder  in  the  community  of  Lancaster.  He  also 
traded  extensively  with  the  Indians.  Myer  Hart  was 
one  of  the  founders  of  Easton,  and  became  a  natural¬ 
ised  citizen.  Aaron  Levy,  who  settled  in  Northumber¬ 
land  County  about  1760,  owned  much  property,  and 
in  1786  projected  the  town  of  Aaronsburg  in  the 
county  of  that  name. 

The  first  Jewish  settler  in  Philadelphia  of  whom 
there  is  record  was  Jonas  Aaron,  in  1703,  who  lived 
a  solitary  life  among  his  Christian  and  Indian  neigh¬ 
bours  until  he  was  joined  by  Arnold  Bamberger  in 
1726.  The  first  Jewish  congregation  in  Philadelphia 
met  for  services  in  a  little  log  shack  in  what  was 
known  as  Sterling  Alley,  afterwards  Cherry  Alley, 
between  Third  and  Fourth  streets.  This  was  in  1747* 
The  worshippers  for  the  most  part  consisted  of  Ger¬ 
man  and  Polish  Jews.  During  the  Revolution  the  New 

[61] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

York  rabbi,  Ger shorn  Mendes  Seixas,  came  to  Phila¬ 
delphia,  as  has  been  before  stated,  and  conducted 
services  according  to  the  Portuguese  rite.  The  soil 
of  Pennsylvania  seemed  congenial  to  the  race,  and 
on  it  they  multiplied  and  flourished  exceedingly 
well. 

Bancroft  has  referred  to  Maryland  as  “among 
the  first  colonies  which  adopted  religious  freedom  as 
the  basis  of  the  state,”  but  its  religious  freedom  was 
limited  to  those  who  believed  in  Christ,  and  was  ac¬ 
companied  by  a  proviso  which  declared  that  any  per¬ 
son  who  denied  the  Trinity  should  be  punished  with 
death.  Even  after  the  Revolution  no  one  could  hold 
any  office  under  the  government  of  Maryland  without 
signing  a  declaration  that  he  believed  in  the  Chris¬ 
tian  religion,  and  not  until  1825  did  the  Legislature 
pass  the  bill  according  to  the  Jew  his  full  civil  rights. 
Yet  in  the  very  early  history  of  Maryland  we  find 
the  names  of  a  few  prominent  Jews.  Mention  is  made 
of  one  Mathias  de  Sousa,  and  Isaac  Markens  tells  us 
that  44  there  resided  in  that  province  (Maryland)  as 
early  as  1658,  one  Jacob  Lumbrozo,  late  of  Lisbone 
in  the  Kingdom  of  Portugal,  who  was  known  as  4  ye 
Jew  doctor.’  ”  Lumbrozo  was  committed  for  blas¬ 
phemy  in  the  year  mentioned,  and  in  the  year  1663 
he  was  granted  letters  of  44  denizacion  ”  (citizenship). 

[62] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

In  1665  he  received  a  commission  to  trade  with  the 
Indians. 

On  July  7,  1733,  a  party  of  forty  Jews  sailed  up 
the  Savannah  River  on  a  vessel  direct  from  London. 
These  were  befriended  by  Governor  Oglethorpe,  who 
was  engaged  in  apportioning  out  land  to  the  colonists, 
and  they  in  return  for  his  patronage  began  to  labour 
with  industry  and  intelligence  to  assist  him  in  carry¬ 
ing  out  his  plans.  The  colonists  were  idle,  lazy,  dis¬ 
solute,  sullen,  and  unwilling  to  protect  their  claims 
from  the  ravages  of  the  Spaniards,  so  the  arrival  of 
the  Jews  was  most  opportune  to  Oglethorpe,  but  as 
soon  as  the  latter  departed  from  Georgia  the  Jews 
lost  prestige  in  Savannah  and  had  to  seek  pastures 
new.  Among  them  was  a  Dr.  Nunes,  who  did  much 
effective  work  among  the  sick,  and  Abraham  de  Lyon, 
a  horticulturist,  who  was  the  first  in  this  country  to 
successfully  introduce  and  cultivate  useful  foreign 
plants.  The  descendants  of  these  early  Jewish  immi¬ 
grants  became  scattered  over  all  parts  of  the  country. 
The  first  male  white  child  born  in  the  State  of  Georgia 
was  a  Jew — Isaac  Minis. 

The  Jews  that  had  left  Savannah  settled  in  Charles¬ 
ton,  S.  C.,  and  as  early  as  1750  had  formed  into 
a  small  congregation  which  worshipped  in  a  little 
wooden  building  on  Union,  near  Queen  Street.  They 

[63] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

had  no  rabbi,  but  the  President  was  Jacob  Cohen,  who 
in  the  name  of  the  congregation  sent  a  lengthy  con¬ 
gratulatory  letter  to  Washington  on  his  elevation  to 
the  Presidency,  and  to  which  there  came  a  suitable 
reply  from  the  illustrious  Father  of  his  Country. 

During  the  struggle  for  Independence  the  Jews 
of  Charleston  distinguished  themselves  by  a  spirit 
of  patriotism,  there  not  being  a  single  Tory  amongst 
them. 

A  few  struggling  Jews  came  to  Virginia  in  1658, 
but  this  part  of  the  country  could  not  boast  of  a 
synagogue  until  1791,  for  the  worship  of  the  con¬ 
gregation,  Beth  Shalom.  There  were  some  Jews  who 
fought  under  Washington  in  the  Virginia  regiments. 

The  first  Jew  to  penetrate  as  far  as  the  Western 
States  arrived  from  England  in  Indianapolis  in  1791, 
but  the  race  made  no  headway  in  Indiana  for  a  long 
time.  Those  who  came  to  Ohio  cannot  be  classed 
among  the  early  settlers,  for  the  pioneer  in  this  State, 
Joseph  Jonas,  did  not  arrive  in  Cincinnati  until  1817. 
The  colonisation  of  Illinois  by  Jews  is  still  of  later 
date,  though  they  muster  strong  both  in  Ohio  and 
Illinois  to-day.  The  migration  of  Jews  to  most  of 
the  other  parts  of  the  country  did  not  precede  the 
beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century. 

Canada  has  never  been  a  favourite  land  with  the 

[64] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

Jews,  for  Canada,  on  almost  all  occasions,  has  turned 
the  “  cold  shoulder  ”  to  the  children  of  the  ancient 
faith,  and  has  looked  upon  their  advances  as  an  en¬ 
croachment  on  the  sacredness  of  her  rights  as  a 
Christian  and  a  British  country.  Aaron  Hart,  who 
had  been  a  soldier  in  the  English  army,  came  out  in 
1760.  Ten  years  or  so  later  there  were  about  a  dozen 
more  colonists  of  the  faith  settled  in  the  vicinity  of 
Montreal;  all  had  prospered  and  were  quite  well  to 
do,  and  formed  themselves  into  a  small  congregation 
and  took  the  name  of  Shearith  Israel.  No  descend¬ 
ants  of  these  original  Jews  are  to  be  found  in  that 
part  of  Canada  now.  Jews  were  disbarred  by  the 
Legislature  down  to  1831,  when  the  disabilities  were 
removed,  and  this  was  almost  a  quarter  of  a  century 
before  Jews  could  take  a  seat  in  the  House  of  Com¬ 
mons  of  the  mother  country.  Disraeli,  of  course, 
was  elected  to  Parliament  in  1837,  but  he,  having 
been  baptised  in  youth,  took  the  oath  as  a  true  Chris¬ 
tian.  The  first  synagogue  in  Canada  was  established 
in  Montreal  in  1788,  with  the  Rev.  J.  R.  Cohen  as 
rabbi. 

All  over  the  country  from  Baffin’s  Bay  to  the  Gulf, 
from  Maine  to  the  Golden  Gate,  we  can  trace  Jewish 
footsteps,  and  everywhere  we  find  that  they  have  left 
silent  monuments,  eloquently  testifying  to  their  thrift 

[65] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

and  industry,  their  devotion  to  high  ideals,  their 
love  for  liberty  and  fairness  between  man  and  man, 
their  unquenchable  thirst  for  knowledge,  their  un¬ 
swerving  devotion  to  the  principles  of  their  race  and 
the  tenets  of  their  faith,  and  above  all,  their  willing¬ 
ness  to  suffer  to  conserve  the  heritage  of  the  illus¬ 
trious  past,  so  that  they  might  look  forward  with 
hope  to  a  glorious  future. 


[66] 


THE  JEW  AS  SOLDIER  AND  PATRIOT 


The  patriotism  of  the  Jew  is  to  me  his  greatest  virtue.  In 
this  he  stands  peerless  in  the  mighty  tomes  of  history.  To 
be  a  patriot  to  a  country  that  degrades,  to  love  a  people  that 
despises,  is  divine.  Of  such  a  divine  nature  was,  and  still  is, 
the  patriotism  of  the  Jews.  He  loves  the  country  in  which 
are  clustered  the  proudest  reminiscences  of  the  history  of  his 
race,  but  more,  much  more,  the  country  where  his  home  is, 
where  his  dear  ones  live  or  lie  buried.  Where  his  home  is, 
there  his  heart  is,  and  where  his  heart  is,  there  his  love  is, 
and  where  his  heart  and  home  and  love  are,  there  is  his  patriot¬ 
ism, — and  let  the  treatment  accorded  him  by  his  country  be 
ever  so  cruel,  and  the  ignominies  heaped  upon  him  by  his  fel¬ 
low  men  be  ever  so  degrading — no  matter  what  the  treat¬ 
ment,  he  still  obeys  the  words  of  Jeremiah  addressed  to  the 
Jewish  captives  at  Babylon:  “  Build  ye  houses  and  dwell  in 
them,  and  plant  gardens  and  eat  fruit  of  them.  Seek  the 
peace  of  every  city  whither  you  are  carried  as  captives,  and 
pray  unto  the  Lord  for  it,  for  in  the  peace  thereof  shall  ye 
have  peace.”  No  matter  what  the  law,  he  still  obeys  the  les¬ 
son  taught  by  the  great  teacher  Mar  Samuel,  “  to  hold  the 
law  of  the  country  in  which  he  lives  as  the  highest  law.”  No 
matter  how  cruel  the  government,  he  prays  for  its  welfare 
week  after  week.  No  matter  how  ill  his  patriotism  is  repaid, 
the  duties  of  patriotism  are  impressed  upon  his  children,  in 
their  religious  school,  year  after  year. — Joseph  Krauskopf. 


Ill 


THE  JEW  AS  A  SOLDIER  AND  PATRIOT 

A  patriot  is  defined  as  a  lover  of  country,  the  word 
coming  through  the  Latin  patria ,  from  the  Greek 
pater  (7 rari/p),  signifying  father,  and  therefore 
strictly  means  “  a  lover  of  fatherland.” 

In  view,  then,  of  the  fact  that  the  Jew  has  no 
fatherland  to  love,  can  he,  under  any  circumstances, 
be  called  a  patriot?  Despite  the  subtleties  of  lan¬ 
guage,  the  term  must  be  considered  in  its  ordinary  ac¬ 
ceptation  and  the  question  answered  in  the  affirmative. 
A  man  may  be  a  patriot  to  a  country  as  alien  to 
his  feet  as  the  wilds  of  Siberia  or  the  wastes  of  Labra¬ 
dor.  If  he  prove  his  love  by  servitude  to  its  cause 
and  devotion  to  its  interests,  he  is  a  patriot,  and  to 
be  called  such  it  is  not  at  all  necessary  for  any  man 
to  serve  merely  the  land  that  gave  himself  or  his 
fathers  birth.  After  all,  very  few  can  boast  a  land 
of  their  own,  no  matter  how  ancient  their  lineage. 
If  a  man  is  born  in  a  stable,  he  is  not  a  horse,  and 
similarly,  being  born  in  a  certain  country,  does  not 

[69] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

necessarily  make  a  man  a  native  of  that  country.  A 
black  man  will  remain  black,  no  matter  where  he 
first  saw  the  light,  and  the  white  man  will  never  be 
black  though  born  on  the  banks  of  the  Senegal  or 
Gambia. 

To-day  in  free  America  we  are  all  proud  to  call 
ourselves  Americans,  no  matter  what  flag  waved  over 
the  land  of  our  birth,  and  we  are  ready  to  make  a 
panther-spring  at  any  who  would  dare  to  question 
our  fealty  or  allegiance  to  the  64  Stars  and  Stripes.” 

Thousands,  tens  of  thousands  cradled  by  the  banks 
of  the  Rhine  and  the  Shannon  poured  out  their  hearts’ 
blood  freely  on  American  battlefields  in  defence  of 
the  Union,  and  with  their  last  dying  glance  looked 
lovingly  on  the  folds  of  44  Old  Glory,”  realising  their 
sacrifice  was  not  in  vain.  Will  anyone  have  the 
temerity  to  say  that  these  men  were  not  patriots  to 
the  land  of  their  adoption,  patriots  of  the  purest 
and  best  brand?  And  along  with  these  heroes,  side 
by  side,  in  trench,  on  field,  in  bivouac  and  camp,  first 
in  the  red  gap  of  danger,  last  to  turn  their  backs  to 
the  foe,  were  many  of  the  sons  of  Israel,  and  who  will 
deny  them  a  share  in  the  glory  as  they  were  partners 
in  the  danger,  who  will  say  that  they,  too,  were  not 
American  patriots? 

Yes,  the  Jew  can  be  a  patriot  and  a  good  one  when 

[70] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

occasion  demands  his  patriotism  to  come  to  the  front, 
when  duty  calls  him  to  prove  his  fidelity  and  devotion 
to  principles  when  dangers  threaten  the  interests  that 
he  holds  dear.  Indeed,  if  we  look  at  the  matter  in 
the  right  light,  the  Jew  is  patriotic  above  all  men, 
for  he  was  in  the  world  before  most  other  countries 
had  sons  to  love  them.  A  good  many  of  the  patriots 
of  history  who  fought,  suffered,  bled,  and  died  for 
the  homes  they  called  their  own,  were  simply  off¬ 
shoots  from  the  parent  Jewish  stem. 

At  the  dissemination  of  the  children  of  men  some 

I 

went  north,  some  south,  others  east  and  others  west, 
and  settled  here,  there,  and  everywhere  over  the  face 
of  the  earth,  and  it  was  only  environment  that  divided 
them  into  races  and  classes  and  castes  and  creeds ;  all 
sprang  from  a  common  ancestry  in  the  valley  of  the 
Euphrates,  the  Semitic  branches  settling  down  in 
that  part  of  the  world,  the  others  journeying  in  divers 
directions.  The  Jews  became  the  most  important  of 
the  descendants  of  Shem,  and  according  to  both  Chris¬ 
tian  and  Hebrew  belief  God  revealed  himself  to  Abra¬ 
ham  the  Father  of  the  Jews  and  afterwards  to  Moses 
to  whom  He  gave  the  Law  on  tables  of  stone.  The 
name  of  44  chosen  people,”  to  differentiate  them  from 
the  rest  of  mankind,  was  given  to  them  as  expressive 
of  the  idea  of  their  having  been  chosen  by  God  to 

[  H] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 


fulfil  the  mission  of  proclaiming  His  truth  among  all 
nations.  They  are  pre-eminently  the  chosen  people 
of  religion  just  as  the  Greeks  were  the  chosen  people 
of  art  and  philosophy  and  the  Romans  the  chosen 
people  of  law  and  politics.  From  time  to  time  great 
kings  and  leaders,  patriarchs  and  prophets  appeared 
among  this  people,  and  their  fame  and  name  went 
forth  over  the  face  of  the  earth.  For  two  thousand 
years  the  Kingdom  of  Judah  remained  a  whole.  It 
was  not  until  Jesus  of  Nazareth  unfurled  His  banner 
of  salvation  on  the  hills  of  Galilee  that  the  Jewish 
citadel  began  to  tremble  and  finally  collapse  alto¬ 
gether  with  the  last  expiring  sigh  of  the  Nazarene  on 
the  Cross  of  Calvary. 

The  glory  of  Israel  passed  away  and  her  children 
became  wanderers  in  all  lands,  but  still  carrying  with 
them  the  traditions  of  their  race,  cherishing  every 
principle  of  their  forefathers  and  clinging  with  un¬ 
dying  faith  to  the  religion  of  the  patriarchs  and 
prophets.  Though  poverty  and  persecution  followed 
close  in  their  wake,  they  never  forgot  that  they 
sprang  from  a  royal  line  that  boasted  the  kingly 
David  and  the  wTise  Solomon,  and  so  they  smiled  in 
their  souls  at  the  Gentiles’  sneers,  knowing  deep  in 
their  hearts  that  they  could  well  afford  to  overlook 
ignorance  and  vanity. 


[72] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

And  to-day  it  is  just  the  same  as  in  the  ages  past. 
The  Jew  is  pachydermatous  to  taunts  and  jeers  and 
mockery  and  insults, — they  cannot  penetrate  him. 
Vilifications  and  calumnies,  when  applied  to  the  Jew, 
are  like  drops  of  water  on  a  duck’s  back — they 
quickly  run  off,  and  leave  the  feathers  all  the  cleaner 
for  their  having  been  there.  He  goes  his  way  unmind¬ 
ful  of  all  ridicule  and  contumely,  attending  to  his 
own  business,  interfering  with  the  rights  of  none, 
and  serving  God  in  his  own  way.  He  is  not  a  natural- 
born  fighter ;  in  fact,  he  is  opposed  to  the  use  of 
force,  except  when  absolutely  necessary,  but  he  can 
take  care  of  himself  and  look  out  for  his  own  inter¬ 
ests.  He  tries  to  live  peaceably  with  all  men,  and 
subscribes  to  the  laws  of  the  country  in  which  he 
lives,  so  that  it  can  be  said  that  the  Jew  on  almost 
all  occasions  makes  a  good  citizen,  when  he  gets  the 
opportunities,  though  no  less  an  authority  than 
Renan  said:  “  A  Jew  will  never  be  a  citizen;  he  will 
simply  live  in  the  cities  of  others.”  But  Renan,  at 
the  best,  was  but  a  sour  philosopher,  tarred  with  the 
same  stick  as  the  bigoted  anti-Semites  of  Europe  and 
America.  Our  own  “  Mark  Twain  ”  used  to  play  on  the 
same  fiddle,  but  he  changed  his  tune  when  convinced 
that  he  was  badly  off  the  key.  In  his  innocent  artless¬ 
ness,  Mark  once  wrote  a  magazine  article,  entitled, 

[73] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

44  Concerning  the  Jews,”  in  which  he  had  this  passage, 
44  By  his  make  and  his  ways  he  is  substantially  a  for¬ 
eigner  wherever  he  may  be,  and  even  the  angels  dislike 
a  foreigner.”  Further  on  in  the  same  article  he  re¬ 
peated  the  old  accusation,  44  The  Jew  is  charged  with 
a  patriotic  disinclination  to  stand  by  the  flag  as  a 
soldier — like  the  Christian  Quaker.”  When  the  great 
humourist’s  attention  was  called  to  the  charge  he 
looked  up  the  Jew’s  record  as  a  soldier,  found  that 
he  had  erred  in  his  estimation,  and  quickly  came  to 
the  conclusion  that  it  was  a  slander  to  cast  aspersion 
on  Jewish  patriotism — a  slander  44  that  has  done  its 
work,  done  it  long  and  faithfully  and  with  high  ap¬ 
proval  ;  it  ought  to  be  pensioned  off  now,  and  retired 
from  active  service.” 

Goldwin  Smith  is  another  who  had  his  fling  at  the 
expense  of  the  Jews,  but  who  has  not  as  yet  had  the 
magnanimity  to  acknowdedge  his  mistake.  He  writes : 
44  The  Jews  have  now  been  everywhere  made  voters ;  to 
make  them  patriots  while  they  remain  genuine  Jews 
is  beyond  the  legislator’s  power.”  Does  Goldwin 
Smith  know  that  the  whole  trend  of  the  Jewish  Bible 
is  an  inculcation  of  patriotism,  and  has  he  ever 
learned  that  in  Israel’s  wars,  from  Joshua’s  conquest 
to  the  sixth  century  of  the  Jewish  era,  such  a  patri¬ 
otism  was  engendered  among  the  Jews  that  its  inten- 

[74] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 


sity  was  responsible  for  the  lives  of  thousands  of 
martyrs,  men  and  women?  Has  Goldwin  Smith  read 
the  Talmud?  All  through  it  patriotism  is  held  up  as 
a  virtue  to  the  eyes  of  the  people.  Among  the  Dia¬ 
spora  it  was  enjoined  as  a  special  virtue.  Samuel  lays 
down  the  principle  when  he  says,  “  The  law  of  the 
country  is  the  law.”  Jose  goes  further  when  he  states, 
“  The  laws  of  the  country,  even  if  wrong,  must  be 
obeyed.”  There  is  abundant  testimony  to  prove  that 
in  many  cases  the  Jew  obeyed  the  laws  when  those 
laws  were  wrong  and  wicked.  On  many  occasions  he 
gave  his  services  and  his  time  and  his  talents  to  the 
states  that  wronged  and  persecuted  him,  as  well  as 
to  those  which  had  given  him  equality  with  his  fellow- 


men. 


But  it  is  not  to  be  wondered  that  the  worm  will 
sometimes  turn.  The  dog  does  not  always  lick  the 
hand  that  is  upraised  to  strike  it.  Persecution  some¬ 
times  went  too  far  with  the  Jew.  Do  insults  and  in¬ 
juries,  do  vilifications  and  calumnies,  do  confiscations 
and  robberies,  do  the  dungeon  cell  and  the  hangman’s 
noose,  do  the  pangs  of  hunger  and  the  throes  of  de¬ 
spair,  instil  patriotism  into  any  human  breast  for 
the  country  that  inflicts  those  wrongs,  whether  it  be 
that  of  Gentile  or  Jew,  Christian  or  Pagan,  Ma- 
hommedan  or  Buddhist?  Has  a  country  ever  made 

[75] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

patriots  out  of  men  it  has  scorched  and  flogged, 
hunted  and  hounded,  shamed  and  degraded,  whom 
it  has  trodden  underfoot  and  ground  down  into  the 
slime  of  the  earth?  When  men  are  deprived  of  every 
human  right,  when  they  are  treated  as  beasts  and 
not  as  men,  when  every  device  that  hell  can  suggest 
is  put  into  operation  for  torturing  them,  is  it  to  be 
expected  their  patriotism  will  thrive  on  such  treat¬ 
ment?  For  nineteen  hundred  years  almost,  the  Old 
World  has  been  meting  out  such  treatment  to  the 
Jews,  and  wdien  the  poor,  writhing  worms  turned  ere 
they  wrere  crushed  altogether,  the  furies  of  hell  were 
let  loose  upon  them  by  Christian  (?)  bigotry  and 
Christian  (?)  hate,  until  they  were  almost  annihilated, 
then  over  the  Haceldama  was  waved  the  Cross  in  the 
name  of  Him  who  came  with  the  glad  message  of 
peace  on  earth,  good  will  to  men,  and  hallelujahs 
for  the  victory  (?)  rose  from  the  unhallowed  lips 
of  tyrants  and  murderers. 

Can  you  ripen  patriots  in  the  sun  of  oppression? 
History  will  not  deny  that  the  Jew  has  sometimes 
given  as  good  as  he  received.  He  is  human  and  has 
human  feelings,  and  is  just  as  susceptible  to  kindness 
as  any  other.  Give  him  a  chance  and  he  will  embrace 
it,  give  him  the  opportunity  of  showing  his  patriotism 
and  it  will  come  to  the  surface.  During  the  past 

*  [76] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

century,  the  Jew  was  rarely  permitted  to  fight  for 
the  country  of  his  adoption,  but  when  he  was  allowed 
to  do  so  he  proved  that  the  contumely  heaped  upon 
him  had  not  quenched  his  manhood.  Once  his  hands 
were  freed  he  showed  he  knew  how  to  use  them.  They 
were  bound  long.  As  Moses  Mendelssohn  said  a  hun¬ 
dred  years  ago,  44  Our  hands  are  bound,  and  we  are 
blamed  for  not  using  them.”  But  as  soon  as  the 
manacles  were  removed,  the  despised  son  of  Israel 
stepped  to  the  front  to  let  the  world  see  he  was  as 
good  a  man  as  any. 

AS  SPANISH  SOLDIERS 

In  the  Spanish  land,  which  has  witnessed  so  much 
of  their  suffering,  where  they  had  been  treated  so 
cruelly  and  inhumanly,  they  heaped  coals  of  fire  on 
the  heads  of  their  persecutors  by  returning  good  for 
evil.  They  fought  for  her  cause  as  valiant  knights 
among  the  bravest  of  her  bravest.  Forty  thousand  of 
them  fought  with  the  flower  of  Castilian  chivalry  on 
the  side  of  Alphonso  VI.,  many  of  whom  left  their 
bones  to  bleach  on  the  fatal  field  of  Ucles,  while  an 
equal  number  fought  valiantly  among  the  ranks  of 
the  victorious  ’Ali.  They  also  fought  heroically  on 
behalf  of  Alphonso  VIII.  against  the  Almohades. 
Alphonso  X.  rewarded  them  en  masse  for  their  mar¬ 
tial  services  by  giving  them  grant  of  an  entire  village, 

[  77  ] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

which  they  called  Aldca  dc  los  Jwdeos.  They  fought 
heroically  for  Don  Pedro,  even  after  the  Black  Prince 
had  forsaken  him,  defending  Burgos  to  the  last  man, 
saying,  “  God  would  never  have  it  that  they  should 
deny  obedience  to  their  natural  lord — Don  Pedro — 
or  to  his  rightful  successor.”  Don  Enrico  publicly 
recognised  the  patriotism  of  the  Jews.  In  the  army 
of  King  Philip  the  Handsome  of  France  were  30,000 
men  of  the  ancient  faith  when  he  marched  against 
Count  Guy  of  Flanders  in  1297,  when  the  latter 
renounced  his  allegiance. 

Wherever  the  Jew  found  a  friend  in  his  country, 
the  country  found  a  friend  in  the  Jew.  History 
records  no  braver  defence  than  that  of  the  Jews  for 
Polish  territory  during  the  terrific  onslaught  of  the 
Cossacks  upon  Poland  during  the  Thirty  Years  War. 
Still  preserved  in  the  synagogue  at  Prague  is  the 
worn  flag  of  Ferdinand  III.,  given  to  the  Jews  in 
1618  for  their  gallant  defence  of  the  city  against 
the  Swedes. 

IN  THE  AUSTRIAN  ARMY 

In  the  Austrian  army  the  Jews  were  serving  as  far 
back  as  1781 ;  they  played  a  conspicuous  part  in  the 
international  war  during  the  first  decade  of  the  past 
century,  one  of  their  number,  Emmanuel  Eppinger, 
receiving  decorations  from  the  hands  of  two  emperors 

[78] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

for  personal  bravery.  Jews  still  continued  to  hold 
their  ground  in  the  Austrian  army.  In  1866  one 
Moses  Weber  distinguished  himself  at  Skalitz  for 
intrepidity  and  daring.  A  Jewish  comrade — Pul- 
chreiner — was  wounded  in  both  legs ;  Weber,  amid  a 
rain  of  bullets,  drew  him  from  the  lines,  put  him  on 
his  shoulders  and  carried  him  to  the  rear.  He  returned 
just  as  his  superior  officer  was  shot  down.  Weber  im¬ 
mediately  took  charge  of  the  command  and  led  his 
men  into  the  very  jaws  of  death  and  successfully 
brought  them  out  again.  In  1893  there  were  40,344 
Jewish  privates  and  2179  Jewish  officers  in  the  Aus¬ 
trian  army,  fully  four  per  cent,  of  the  whole  force.  A 
Jewdsh  Colonel  of  Infantry,  Heinrich  Forges,  was 
raised  to  the  rank  of  Major-General  and  given  an 
important  command ;  General  Popper  is  a  world- 
famous  naval  constructor,  while  another  Jew  was 
Director-General  of  the  army  medical  department. 
The  Czar  of  Russia  conferred  a  high  decoration  on 
General  Edward  von  Schweitzer,  a  Jew,  commandant 
of  the  26th  Regiment  of  Infantry,  and  one  of 
Austria’s  most  distinguished  officers. 

In  the  Hapsburg  Monarchy  are  many  famous 
Jewish  officers,  the  best  known  being  General  Alex¬ 
ander  von  Eisz,  a  favourite  of  Kaiser  Franz  Joseph 
and  a  veteran  whose  breast  glitters  with  orders  and 

[79] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

decorations,  and  one  of  whom  martial  Jewry  feels 
proud. 

In  the  Franco-Prussian  war,  which  drew  all  Europe 
into  its  deadly  maelstrom,  the  Jews  proved  their 
devotion  to  the  Fatherland.  Phillipson,  in  his 
“  Memoirs,”  calculates  there  were  2531  Jewish  sol¬ 
diers  in  this  war,  but  these  figures  fall  far  short  of 
the  actual  number,  for  they  do  not  include  the  reports 
of  the  large  Jewish  communities  of  Berlin,  Breslau, 
Posen,  and  Frankfort.  Altogether  there  must  have 
been  not  less  than  5000  Hebrews  engaged  in  that  his¬ 
toric  conflict,  for  Germany  had  already,  in  1866,  in 
her  war  with  Austria,  1025  Jews  who  had  seen  active 
service.  In  this  Franco-Prussian  war  448  Jews  were 
wounded  or  killed  and  373  received  the  Iron  Cross 
or  other  decoration  of  equal  importance,  for  bravery 
on  the  field  of  battle. 

IN  FRENCH  WARS 

During  the  Napoleonic  campaigns  Jews  were  not 
found  wanting  in  the  ranks  of  the  great  little  Cor¬ 
sican.  One  of  the  most  intrepid  of  his  marshals  was 
a  Jew, — Massena, — the  name  simply  being  an  inter¬ 
polation  of  the  Judaic  Manasseh.  Two  decorated 
Jewish  soldiers  of  Napoleon,  Jean  Louis  May  and 
Simon  Mayer,  sat  in  the  Sanhedrin  of  1806.  Na- 
opleon  did  not  recognise  the  Jews  as  citizens  prior  to 

[80] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

this  period.  In  1808,  out  of  the  77,000  Jews  in  all 
France,  there  were  797  men  serving  in  the  army.  A 
Jew  named  Berko,  who  commanded  a  regiment  with 
the  forces  of  Kosciusko,  became  a  Colonel  in  the 
French  service. 

Among  the  most  prominent  Jewish  officers  in  the 
French  army  to-day  are  Generals  Valabreque  and 
Laroque. 

The  first  Hebrew  officer  in  the  French  army  was 
Captain  Anselm  Nordon.  The  Jews  had  only  been 
just  emancipated  by  the  Revolution  in  1792.  France 
had  just  declared  war  against  Russia,  and  at  once 
the  Jews  took  to  heart  their  duty  to  the  Fatherland. 
In  all  parts,  even  abroad,  volunteer  legions  were  or¬ 
ganised  in  order  to  defend  its  cause.  One  of  these 
was  the  German  legion,  which  also  included  Alsatians 
and  Lorrainers  in  its  ranks.  It  was  to  the  latter 
category  that  Nordon  belonged. 

The  vile  men  who  concocted  the  odious  conspiracy 
against  Dreyfus  could  find  no  fault  in  this  patriot, 
except  that  he  was  a  Jew,  and  therefore,  certain  to 
be  condemned  without  evidence ;  the  more  they  lied, 
perjured,  and  forged,  the  more  they  convinced  the 
world  of  the  absolute  innocence  of  Dreyfus. 

The  Jews,  though  numbering  only  80,000  in  all 
France,  have  more  than  three  hundred  officers  in  the 

[81] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

army,  ten  times  as  many  as  the  proportion  between 
Jewish  and  Gentile  Frenchmen  would  show  to  be 
owing  to  their  country. 

On  the  great  day  of  Waterloo  Jewish  blood  dyed 
the  Belgian  plain — some  shed  for  the  honour  of 
France  and  some  for  the  glory  of  England,  for  be  it 
known  that  not  less  than  fifteen  Jewish  officers  served 
under  Wellington  at  Waterloo,  not  to  speak  at  all 
of  the  men  in  the  ranks ;  and  when  the  opportune  and 
decisive  moment  came,  when  the  destiny  of  nations 
trembled  in  the  balance,  when  the  immortal  words  of 
the  Iron  Duke  rang  out  like  a  clarion  blast,  44  Up, 
lads,  and  at  them,”  there  were  heroes  in  whose  veins 
coursed  Jewish  blood,  ready  to  obey  the  command. 
At  Waterloo  fought  Cornet  Albert  Goldsmid,  who 
had  two  horses  shot  under  him,  and  who  afterwards 
rose  to  the  distinguished  rank  of  Major-General  in 
the  British  service.  Sir  David  Ximines  and  Sir  Jacob 
Adolphus  preceded  Goldsmid  in  the  rank  of  General, 
the  latter  holding  the  office  of  Inspector-General  of 
hospitals;  before  these  was  yet  another  Jew,  Sir 
Alexander  Schomberg,  who  distinguished  himself  in 

the  British  navy. 

•/ 

AS  BRITISH  SOLDIERS 

To-day  the  adherents  of  Israel  stand  high  in  both 
the  army  and  navy  of  Britain,  and  entrance  into 

[83] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

either  of  these  departments  certainly  constitutes  a 
supreme  test  of  fitness,  and  moreover,  a  superlative 
test  of  patriotism.  Not  reckoning  those  of  Jewish 
descent,  but  merely  those  of  Jewish  birth,  there  are 
at  present  about  fifteen  naval  and  marine  officers, 
over  forty  officers  of  the  regular  army,  twenty  officers 
of  militia,  and  ninety  officers  of  volunteers,  all  ex¬ 
clusive  of  the  Colonial  officers  in  foreign  possessions 
who  have  done  gallant  service  for  the  mother  country. 
In  the  late  Boer  war  more  than  2000  Jews  fought 
on  the  side  of  England,  but  of  course  these  figures 
are  not  given  in  the  official  returns,  for  the  Jews  in 
the  British  army,  especially  the  rank  and  file,  often 
conceal  their  religion  for  various  reasons,  and  many 
of  them,  through  policy,  outwardly  subscribe  to  the 
Church  of  England,  but  under  the  red  uniforms  of 
such  Maranos  beat  hearts  as  faithful  to  every  tenet 
of  Israel  as  were  those  which  followed  the  standards 
of  Joshua  or  of  David.  In  fact  the  Jew  made  a  record 
very  early  in  South  Africa.  In  1847  Captain  Joshua 
Norden  was  the  first  Jew  to  fall  in  the  warfare  of  the 
Dark  Continent.  The  Jewish  fatalities  in  the  Boer 
war  have  never  been  compiled,  but  it  is  known  that 
many  of  the  race  sacrificed  their  lives  in  the  cam¬ 
paign.  Colonel  A.  E.  W.  Goldsmid,  chief  of  staff  to 
General  Kelly-Kcnny  at  Aldershot,  and  of  the  Sixth 

[83] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

Division  under  the  same  General,  which  cornered 
Cronje  at  Paardeburg,  where  two  shots  wounded  his 
horse,  a  third  smashed  his  water-bottle,  and  a  fourth 
penetrated  into  his  saddle-bag,  and  after  organising 
transport  columns,  became  Commandant  at  Naau- 
poort,  and  later  on  Inspector  of  the  Western  section 
of  the  Lines  of  Communication,  is  a  Jew ;  Colonel 
Harris,  who  commanded  that  regiment  of  crack  shots, 
the  Kimberley  Rifles,  is  a  Jew;  Lieutenant  F.  N. 
Raphael,  of  the  First  South  Lancashire  Regiment, 
killed  at  Spion  Kop  while  trying  to  rescue  one  of  his 
own  men  badly  wounded,  was  a  Jew;  Major  W.  D. 
Karri-Davis  of  the  Imperial  Light  Horse  and  his 
partner,  Woods,  whom  the  Boers  kept  as  prisoners 
for  a  long  time  because  they  refused  to  give  their 
parole  not  to  fight,  were  both  Jews.  Afterwards 
Karri-Davis  was  badly  wounded  at  Ladysmith,  and 
seven  Jews  fighting  with  him  in  the  same  engagement 
were  killed.  He  had  long  been  famous  in  the  Trans¬ 
vaal;  the  king  conferred  on  him  the  decorations  of 
Companion  of  the  Order  of  the  Bath  and  Companion 
of  the  Order  of  St.  Michael  and  St.  George,  two  of 
the  greatest  marks  of  esteem  he  had  in  his  power  to 
bestow.  Lord  Roberts  mentioned  Karri-Davis  in  sev¬ 
eral  dispatches  for  “  distinguished  bravery.”  Lieu¬ 
tenant  Clive  Behrens,  son-in-law  of  the  powerful 

[84] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

banker,  Rothschild,  gallantly  went  to  the  front  im¬ 
mediately  after  his  marriage,  to  brave  the  bullets  of 
the  Boers  and  prove  himself  no  feather-bed  warrior. 
Another  Jew  who  took  a  leading  part  in  hostilities 
was  Captain  Alfred  Brown,  who  joined  Thorney- 
croft’s  Mounted  Infantry.  Captain  J.  W.  Cohen, 
with  his  father,  equipped  the  Thirteenth  Middlesex 
Volunteer  Rifles  for  service  at  their  own  expense. 
Captain  E.  C.  Arnold,  Seventh  Battalion  Royal  Fusi¬ 
liers  ;  Captain  Robinson  and  Captain  Barret  of  the 
Welsh  Yeomanry;  Captain  Frielander  of  Kitchener’s 
Fighting  Scouts;  Major  Weil,  Imperial  Transport 
Service;  Captain  E.  S.  Goldschmidt;  Lieutenant- 
Colonel  F.  P.  Lousada,  and  Captain  Claude  L.  Marks, 
are  but  a  few  of  the  names  of  the  twenty-two  captains, 
forty  lieutenants,  sixty-two  second  lieutenants,  medi¬ 
cal  officers,  orderlies,  nurses  and  men  who  fought 
and  laboured  for  the  “Union  Jack”  of  Old  Eng¬ 
land.  In  one  regiment  alone,  and,  by  the  way,  one 
which  did  brilliant  work  throughout  the  campaign, — 
the  Middlesex  Yeomanry, — were  three  Jew  brothers, 
viz.,  Sergeant  Alfred  A.  Asher,  Sergeant  Michael 
Asher,  and  Private  Henry  Asher. 

No  more  striking  testimony  can  be  borne  to  the 
prominent  part  taken  by  the  Jews  in  the  South 
African  war  than  the  standing  joke  which  was  cur- 

[35] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

rent  in  Australia  at  the  time,  which  was,  that  Eng¬ 
land  was  drafting  Cohent  in  gents  to  fight  the  Boers. 

The  Jews  never  more  strikingly  repudiated  the 
calumny  that  they  never  could  be  patriots  as  long 
as  they  remained  Jews.  And  yet  despite  all,  the 
calumny  still  continued  to  circulate  in  England,  and 
Jews  were  still  being  persecuted  in  London.  A  well- 
known  gentleman,  supporting  the  action  of  the  mobs, 
in  an  address,  said:  “  The  Jews  make  money  here  in 
London.  They  share  our  prosperity,  but  they  do  not 
share  our  dangers.  A  Jew  will  cheerfully  take  a  con¬ 
tract  to  supply  the  British  army  in  Africa  at  a  profit. 
What  Jew  would  take  up  a  gun  or  a  sword  on  behalf 
of  the  nation  that  shelters  him?  What  Jew  has 
figured  in  England’s  wars?  ” 

It  is  incomprehensible  that  any  Englishman  of 
intelligence,  with  any  claim  to  knowledge,  could 
stultify  himself  in  this  manner. 

Of  Jews  in  the  British  army  and  navy,  there  were 
serving  in  the  year  1902,  enrolled  of  their  own  free 
will,  120  in  the  Royal  Navy,  550  in  the  regular  army, 
180  in  the  British  Militia,  800  in  the  British  Yeo¬ 
manry  and  Volunteers,  500  in  the  Colonial  Militia 
and  Volunteers.  These  figures,  of  course,  are  ex¬ 
clusive  of  those  who  pass  as  Christians  and  who 
amount  to  many  hundreds  more. 

Some  of  the  best  known  British  Hebrew  officers 

[86] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 


to-day  are  Sir  E.  G.  Barrow  in  the  Indian  service, 
and  Sir  M.  Nathan,  Governor  and  Commander-in- 
Chief  of  Hong  Kong  and  its  dependencies. 

i 

AS  SOLDIERS  IN  OTHER  EUROPEAN  COUNTRIES 

There  are  in  the  German  army  to-day  over  6000 
Jews.  If  the  principle  prevailed  in  that  army  of 
“  equal  rights  for  all,”  we  would  undoubtedly  find  as 
many  qualified  officers  of  the  Jewish  faith  as  exist 
in  the  other  European  countries.  Count  von  Blumen- 
thal,  one  of  the  most  distinguished  strategists  of 
modern  Germany,  was  by  birth  and  by  inherited 
genius,  a  Jew.  Count  von  Mossier,  aide-de-camp  to 
the  Emperor  William,  is  a  Jew  both  by  birth  and  by 
faith. 

In  the  Hungarian  Revolution  35,000  Israelites  were 
drawn  towards  Kossuth,  at  whose  hands  they  expected 
redemption  from  civil  and  political  degradation. 

The  Sultan  of  Turkey  has  gone  on  record  as  saying 
that  there  is  not  one  of  his  Jewish  subjects  upon 
whom  he  could  not  rely  in  time  of  war.  General  Elias 
Pacha  is  not  only  an  admiral  in  the  Turkish  navy, 
but  the  Sultan’s  private  physician,  being  the  first 
Hebrew  to  hold  such  high  official  rank. 

The  Jews  were  not  permitted  to  enter  the  Italian 
army  until  1848.  No  soldier  in  Italy  stood  higher 
than  the  late  Lieutenant-General  Giuseppe  Otto- 

[87] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

lenghi,  a  strict  Jew,  and  King  Humbert’s  Minister  of 
War.  In  Italy  fourteen  per  cent,  of  all  Italian  Jews 
are  in  the  army,  against  eleven  per  cent,  of  the 
nationality  of  the  country.  Out  of  every  five  Jews 
serving  in  the  King’s  army,  one  is  an  officer,  against 
one  in  twelve  in  the  Italian  army  as  a  whole. 

No  Jewish  soldier  in  the  Roumanian  army  can  be 
promoted  to  a  commission,  however  brave  and  loyal 
he  may  be. 

Under  the  most  adverse  circumstances  we  hear  oc¬ 
casionally  of  a  Jew  in  the  Russian  army  achieving 
distinction,  like  the  late  Heinrich  Schapiro,  whose 
services  as  a  military  surgeon  in  the  Turko-Russian 
war,  and  other  labours,  brought  him  the  reward  of 
the  title  44  Professor  ”  at  the  St.  Petersburg  Military 
Medical  School — a  very  rare  honour  for  a  Jew. 
There  were  5000  Jews  among  the  Russian  troops  in 
China.  It  is  estimated  that  there  were  15,000  He¬ 
brews  fighting  in  the  Russian  army  in  Manchuria, 
and  many  of  them  died  for  the  Czar.  M.  Trepov, 
Governor  of  Taurida,  attending  a  memorial  service 
at  the  synagogue  in  Theodosia,  said  to  the  congrega¬ 
tion  :  44  In  the  ranks  of  the  Russian  army  there  are 
Hebrews,  who,  like  the  Russians,  shed  their  blood  and 
died  for  the  fatherland.  Many  Hebrews  have  already 
distinguished  themselves.  Especially  noteworthy  is 

[88] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

the  heroic  deed  of  the  Hebrew  musicians  of  the 
Eleventh  Regiment,  who  during  the  fighting  did  not 
cease  playing,  and,  when  the  chaplain  of  the  regi¬ 
ment  fell  on  being  shot,  assisted  him  until  the  regi¬ 
ment  succeeded  in  breaking  through  the  lines  of 
the  enemy  and  retreating.  The  Hebrew  musicians 
thereby  saved  the  chaplain  and  the  regiment  from 
certain  disaster.  Continue  to  bring  up  your  children 
in  this  spirit  and  I  shall  be  very  glad  if  the  rights 
of  the  Hebrews  are  more  and  more  extended.” 

Among  the  Jews  wTho  were  promoted  on  the  battle¬ 
field  was  a  New  York  Hebrew,  an  engineer  and  archi¬ 
tect,  M.  Minifsky.  After  having  been  engaged  by  the 
Russian  Government  as  architect  at  Irkutsk  he  was 
ordered  to  Tomsk;  the  hated  Jew  was  sent  to  build 
bridges  and  railroads ;  he  did  his  duty,  and  so  credita¬ 
bly,  that  contrary  to  his  expectations,  he  received 
high  commendation  for  the  remakable  role  he  played. 

The  absence  of  Hebrews  from  the  Japanese  army 
is  to  be  accounted  for  by  the  fact  that  the  Land  of 
the  Rising  Sun  does  not  permit  any  foreigner  to  take 
up  arms  in  her  defence. 

One  would  think  that  the  facts  mentioned,  which 
might  be  multiplied  indefinitely,  and  which  speak 
volumes  for  the  patriotism  of  the  Jew,  and  serve  an 
object  lesson  to  the  world  of  the  success  which  waits 

[89] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

upon  a  policy  of  wise  toleration  and  justice,  would 
make  Jew-baiters  blush,  if  shame  were  not  dead. 

THE  JEW  AS  AN  AMERICAN  SOLDIER 

That  the  Jew  has  also  done  his  share  in  the  Ameri¬ 
can  army  no  one  laying  any  claim  to  knowledge  of 
American  history  can  deny.  From  the  very  inception 
of  that  army  he  has  played  his  part.  At  the  begin¬ 
ning  of  the  Revolutionary  War  there  were  in  all  about 
three  thousand  Jews  on  the  North  American  conti¬ 
nent,  but,  as  yet,  they  were  far  from  having  equal 
rights  and  privileges  with  their  fellows.  Some  of 
the  Colonies  were  most  intolerant,  and  even  after  the 
war  continued  to  discriminate  against  the  Jews.  In 
Maryland,  as  we  have  seen,  down  to  1825  no  one  could 
hold  any  office  under  the  State  Government  without 
signing  a  declaration  that  he  believed  in  the  Chris¬ 
tian  religion.  So  it  will  be  readily  inferred  that  Jews 
were,  in  most  places,  disbarred  from  military  service, 
no  matter  how  willing  and  anxious  they  may  have  been 
to  do  their  duty  to  the  country  in  which  they  had 
settled.  Nevertheless  more  than  fifty  Jews  fought  for 
the  patriotic  side  in  the  Revolutionary  War,  twenty- 
four  of  whom  were  officers,  the  names  of  two,  Colonel 
Isaac  Franks  and  Colonel  David  Salisbury  Franks, 
being  prominent  in  the  cause. 

[90] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

But  if  the  Colonists  did  not  desire  the  Jews  as 
soldiers  and  disbarred  them,  in  a  great  measure,  from 
becoming  such,  they  did  not  disdain  Jewish  money  to 
purchase  the  sinews  of  war,  and  only  for  Jewish 
money  no  successful  war  could  have  been  waged  by 
the  patriots.  When  Robert  Morris  appealed  for 
funds  to  wage  the  struggle,  it  was  a  Jew,  Haym 
Salomon,  who  most  generously  responded.  Salomon 
lived  in  Philadelphia,  and  had  been  the  countryman 
and  intimate  associate  of  both  Pulaski  and  Kosciusko. 
He  immediately  subscribed  $300,000  to  the  cause,  and 
in  all  gave  $658,007.13,  not  a  penny  of  which  has 
ever  been  repaid  to  his  heirs.  Besides  his  contribu¬ 
tions,  he  supported  delegates  to  Congress  and  officers 
of  the  army  and  of  the  Government  with  the  means 
of  defraying  their  ordinary  expenses,  among  whom 
were  Jefferson,  Madison,  Lee,  Steuben,  Mifflin,  Sin¬ 
clair,  Wilson  Monroe,  and  Mercer.  Was  not  such  a 
man  a  patriot? 

It  may  be  stated  that  Salomon  was  captured  by 
the  British,  thrown  into  prison  and  died  before  he 
himself,  could  take  any  steps  to  secure  reimbursement 
for  the  wealth  he  had  expended,  leaving  his  wife  and 
four  small  children  in  want. 

Haym  Salomon  was  not  the  only  Jew  who  sacrificed 
his  fortune  for  Independence,  for  we  find  that,  among 

[91] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

the  signers  of  the  bills  of  credit  for  the  Continental 
Congress  in  1776,  were  Benjamin  Levy  of  Philadel¬ 
phia  and  Benjamin  Jacobs  of  New  York.  Samuel 
Lyon  of  New  York  was  among  the  signers  of  similar 
bills  in  1779.  Isaac  Moses  of  Philadelphia  contributed 
$15,000  to  the  Colonial  treasury,  and  Herman  Levy, 
another  Philadelphian,  repeatedly  advanced  consider¬ 
able  sums  for  the  support  of  the  army  in  the  field. 
Manuel  Mordecai  Noah  of  South  Carolina  not  only 
served  in  the  army  as  an  officer  on  Washington’s  staff, 
and  likewise  with  General  Marion,  but  gave  $100,000 
to  further  the  cause  in  which  he  was  enlisted. 

Cyrus  Adler  recently  called  attention  to  the  follow¬ 
ing  incident.  His  information  was  based  on  an  un¬ 
published  letter  of  Jared  Sparks:  44  At  the  outbreak 
of  the  Revolutionary  War  a  Mr.  Gomez  of  New  York 
proposed  to  a  member  of  the  Continental  Congress 
that  he  form  a  company  of  soldiers  for  service.  The 
member  of  Congress  remonstrated  with  Mr.  Gomez 
on  the  score  of  age,  he  then  being  sixty-eight,  to 
which  Mr.  Gomez  replied  that  he  4  could  stop  a  bullet 
as  well  as  a  younger  man.’  ” 

Mordecai  Sheftall  was  appointed  Commissary- 
General  of  the  troops  of  Georgia  in  1777,  and  soon 
thereafter  was  also  appointed  Commissary  to  the 
Continental  troops.  When  the  British  attacked  Sa- 

[93] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

vannah  in  1778  Shef tail’s  name  appears  as  one  of 
the  most  patriotic  of  the  defenders.  He  also  con¬ 
tributed  large  sums  of  money.  Major  Benjamin 
Nones,  a  Jew  of  Bordeaux,  France,  served  with  signal 
success  on  the  staffs  of  both  Washington  and  Lafay¬ 
ette.  He  became  Major  of  a  legion  of  four  hundred 
men  composed  largely  of  Jews,  and  fought  in  nearly 
every  battle  of  Carolina.  He  wTas  attached  to  Baron 
de  Kalb’s  command,  and  when  that  splendid  soldier 
fell,  mortally  wounded,  it  was  Major  Nones  and  his 
Jewish  comrades,  Captain  Jacob  de  la  Motta  and 
Captain  Jacob  de  Leon,  who  carried  him  off  the  field. 

Philip  Moses  Russell,  in  the  spring  of  1775,  enlisted 
as  a  surgeon’s  mate  under  command  of  General  Lee; 
after  the  British  occupation  of  Philadelphia  in  Sep¬ 
tember,  1777,  he  became  surgeon’s  mate  to  Surgeon 
Norman  of  the  Second  Virginia  Regiment.  Russell 
went  into  quarters  with  the  army  at  Valley  Forge, 
1777-1778.  Sickness  forced  him  to  resign  in  1780. 
He  received  a  commendation  from  Washington  for 
“  his  assiduous  and  faithful  attentions  to  the  sick  and 
wounded.” 

Solomon  Bush,  Emanuel  de  la  Motta,  Benjamin 
Ezekiel,  Jason  Sampson,  Jacob  de  la  Motta, 
Ascher  Levy,  Nathaniel  Levy,  David  Hays  and  his 
son  Jacob,  Reuben  Etting,  Jacob  J.  Cohen,  Major 

[93] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

Lewis  Bush,  Aaron  Benjamin,  Isaac  Israel,  and 
Benjamin  Moses,  are  names  of  some  other  Jews  who 
distinguished  themselves  on  the  battlefields  of  the 
Revolution. 

Jews  in  the  War  of  181  2  who  fought  for  the  infant 
Republic  were  Colonel  Nathan  Meyers,  Captain 
Meyes  Moses,  Adjutant  Isaac  Meyers,  Samuel  Noah, 
Isaac  Mertz,  Benjamin  Gratz,  David  Metzler,  Judah 
Touro  and  many  more  of  the  old  faith. 

Touro  must  not  be  passed  with  a  mere  mention  of 
the  name.  After  the  Revolution  he  went  to  the 
French  territory  of  Louisiana,  settling  at  New 
Orleans  (1802).  During  Andrew  Jackson’s  memora¬ 
ble  defence  of  that  city  after  the  territory  had  be¬ 
come  part  of  the  United  States,  Touro,  who  had 
amassed  a  great  fortune  and  was  numbered  among 
the  most  prominent  merchants  of  the  place,  entered 
the  ranks  as  a  common  soldier  and  was  severely 
wounded,  being  given  up  for  dead.  The  commemora¬ 
tion  of  the  first  battlefield  of  the  Revolutionary  War 
was  made  possible  through  Touro,  who,  upon  learning 
that  Amos  Lawrence  of  Boston  had  pledged  to  give 
$10,000  to  complete  the  Bunker  Hill  monument,  if 
any  other  person  would  be  found  who  would  give  a 
like  amount,  sent  his  check  for  that  sum. 

In  the  Mexican  war  of  1846  the  men  of  Israel 

[94] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

responded  to  the  call  and  valiantly  marched  to  the 
front.  There  were  over  sixty  in  line,  a  dozen  being 
officers.  General  David  de  Leon  twice  was  voted  the 
thanks  of  the  American  Congress  for  ability  and  dar¬ 
ing.  Surgeon-General  Moses  Albert  Levy,  Colonel 
Leon  Dyer,  Quartermaster-General  under  Winfield 
Scott,  Lieutenant  Henry  Seligson,  who  was  sent  for 
by  General  Taylor  and  complimented  for  his  bravery 
at  Monterey,  Major  Alfred  Mordecai,  Sergeant 
Jacob  Davis,  Sergeant  Samuel  Henry,  and  Corporal 
Jacob  Hirschborn  are  names  of  some  others  who 
proved  their  patriotism  by  service  and  sacrifice. 

IN  THE  REGULAR  ARMY  AND  NAVY 

From  the  earliest  period  of  the  republic  to  the 
present  time  the  Jew  has  been  a  conspicuous  figure 
in  our  regular  army  and  navy,  and  in  every  branch 
of  the  service  he  has  made  an  honourable  record. 

Major  Alfred  Mordecai  is  a  recognised  authority 
in  the  military  world  in  the  field  of  scientific  research 
and  in  the  practical  application  of  mechanical  deduc¬ 
tion  to  war  uses.  His  son  and  namesake  has  been  an 
instructor  at  the  Military  College  of  West  Point. 

Three  Jews  rose  high  in  the  navy.  Commodore 
Uriah  Phillips  Levy  attained  the  rank  of  flag-officer, 
the  highest  in  his  day ;  it  was  he  who  secured  the 

[95] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 


abolition  of  corporal  punishment;  he  died  in  1862. 
Levi  Myers  advanced  to  a  naval  captaincy ;  he  was 
a  man  of  much  force  of  character,  daring  and  ability ; 
he  died  in  1870.  Adolf  Marix,  conspicuous  for  his 
bravery  in  the  Spanish- American  War,  was  the 
Judge- Advocate  of  the  Maine  Disaster  Board  of 
Inquiry. 


THE  JEWS  AS  ABOLITIONISTS 

In  the  political  movements  for  the  abolition  of 
slavery  the  Jews  took  a  leading  part  in  creating 
public  opinion.  As  early  as  1853  a  fugitive  negro, 
arrested  by  a  United  States  marshal,  was  liberated 
by  a  crowd  of  citizens,  led  by  Michael  Greenbaum ; 
and,  on  the  evening  of  the  same  day,  a  big  meeting 
was  held  to  ratify  that  act.  The  first  official  call  to 
organise  the  abolition  movement  was  signed  by 
George  Schneider,  Adolph  Loeb,  Julius  Rosenthal, 
Leopold  Mayer,  and  a  cigar-dealer  named  Hanson — 
four  Jews  among  the  five  leaders  of  the  German 
population  of  Chicago  in  a  great  political  movement. 

In  the  columns  of  the  New  York  Tribune ,  Michael 
Heilprin,  who  had  previous  to  his  coming  to  America 
shown  his  love  of  liberty  as  a  member  of  Kossuth’s 
civil  staff  during  the  Hungarian  Revolution,  vigor¬ 
ously  exonerated  the  Old  Testament  from  favouring 

[96] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

slavery.  Dr.  Edward  Moritz  of  the  Philadelphia 
Democrat;  Rabbi  Samuel  M.  Isaacs,  as  preacher  and 
editor  of  the  Jewish  Messenger;  Rabbi  Liebman  Adler 
in  Detroit;  Dr.  Horwitz  in  Cleveland,  and  Dr.  Fel- 
senthal  in  Chicago,  were  sowing  the  seeds  of  liberty. 

Rabbi  Sobati  Morais,  on  account  of  his  anti-slavery 
sentiments,  was  elected  an  honourary  member  of  the 
Union  League  Club  of  Philadelphia,  an  honour  shared 
with  the  Rev.  Dr.  David  Einhorn,  who,  in  1856,  came 
to  pro-slavery  Baltimore  from  Austria,  where  his  tem¬ 
ple  had  been  closed  against  him  by  the  imperial 
government  on  account  of  his  alleged  revolutionary 
utterances.  From  the  sacred  desk  of  the  Har  Sinai 
Congregation,  with  fiery  eloquence,  and  in  his  Sinaiy 
a  German  monthly,  in  unanswerable  arguments,  Dr. 
Einhorn  poured  forth  shot  and  shell  from  the  Old 
Testament  armory  into  the  ranks  of  the  advocates 
of  slavery  and  the  time-serving  attitude  of  the 
churches,  until  driven  out  of  the  city  and  his  return 
prohibited  under  martial  law. 

Dr.  Einhorn  in  Baltimore,  and  later  in  Philadel¬ 
phia,  did  as  much  as  any  man  of  his  day  to  create  the 
public  sentiment  which  shivered  that  colossal  iniquity. 
In  New  York,  Judge  Philip  J.  Joachimsen,  as  As¬ 
sistant  United  States  District  Attorney,  vigorously 
prosecuted  certain  slave-dealers.  Moritz  Pinner,  on 

[97] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

January  1,  1859,  began  the  issue  of  an  abolitionist 
paper,  the  Kansas  Post ,  at  Kansas  City.  As  delegate 
to  the  National  Republican  Convention,  he,  with 
other  Jews,  like  Judge  Dittenhoef'er  of  New  York, 
worked  earnestly  among  the  Germans  for  the  nomi¬ 
nation  of  Abraham  Lincoln. 

At  the  battle  of  44  Black  Jack  ”  in  Kansas,  June  2, 
1856,  among  the  fourteen  indifferently  armed  44  Free 
State  99  men  under  Captain  John  Brown’s  leadership, 
were  two  Jews — Theodore  Wiener  and  August  Bondi. 
The  fourteen  men  fought  for  four  hours  seventy- 
five  pro-slavery  border  ruffians,  armed  with  United 
States  guns.  This  was  the  first  clash  between  the 
North  and  South. 

JEWS  IN  THE  CIVIE  WAR 

It  was  left  for  the  Civil  War  to  bring  out  the  quali¬ 
ties  of  the  Jew  as  a  genuine  soldier,  as  one  whom  no 
terrors  could  daunt,  no  dangers  intimidate,  no  suf¬ 
ferings  weaken,  an  automaton  of  flesh  and  bone  im¬ 
pervious  to  fatigue  and  hunger.  The  Civil  War  tried 
the  souls  of  men  as  well  as  their  bodies,  yet  the  Jew 
did  not  shrink.  When  Lincoln  called  for  volunteers 
the  sons  of  Israel  rushed  to  don  the  blue  and  followed 
the  flag  to  death  or  victory.  Great  numbers  were  also 
in  the  ranks  of  the  Confederacy,  a  fact  which  stifles 

[98] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

the  calumny  that  the  Jew  when  he  does  fight  has  no 
heart  in  the  struggle,  but  merely  fights  perfunctorily 
and  with  no  object  in  view.  For  the  time  being, 
Judaism  was  forgotten  and  the  Jew  in  Blue  faced 
the  Jew  in  Gray  with  a  deadly  earnestness,  each  be¬ 
lieving  heart  and  soul  in  the  cause  for  which  he  had 
unsheathed  his  sword.  “  Stonewall  ”  Jackson  and 
Robert  E.  Lee  gallantly  fought  for  the  “Lost 
Cause,”  and  though  they  were  defeated,  they  were 
not  conquered,  and  of  all  the  brave  sons  of  the 
South  who  fought  and  bled  beneath  their  lead- 
ship,  none  put  up  a  more  stubborn  fight  than  the 
Jewish  Confederates. 

In  the  Northern  army  there  were  seven  Jews  who 
received  medals  at  the  hands  of  Lincoln  himself  for 
surpassing  bravery  on  the  field. 

In  the  great  struggle  on  both  sides  upwards  of 
8000  Jews  took  part,  although  there  were  but  150,000 
Jews  in  all  the  country  at  the  time.  There  were  11 
naval  officers,  40  staff  officers,  9  generals,  18  colonels, 
8  lieutenant-colonels,  40  majors,  205  captains,  325 
lieutenants,  48  adjutants,  and  25  surgeons.  There 
was  also  one  Jewish  chaplain,  the  Rev.  Jacob  Frankel. 
The  highest-ranking  Jewish  officer  was  Brevet-Major- 
General  Frederick  Knefler  of  Indianapolis.  So  many 
played  conspicuous  parts  in  the  conflict  that  it  is  no 

[99] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

easy  task  to  pick  out  the  most  prominent  names. 
Myer  Asch,  Nathan  D.  Menken,  and  Louis  H.  Meyer 
served  on  the  staff  of  General  Pope ;  Dr.  Morris  Asch 
on  the  staff  of  General  Sheridan;  Major  Lully,  who 
had  served  on  Kossuth’s  staff  in  the  Hungarian  Revo¬ 
lution,  rendered  valuable  service  under  the  direction 
of  the  Secretary  of  War  ;  Captain  Dessauer  and  New¬ 
man  Borchard  served  on  the  staff  of  General  Howard 
— the  former  was  killed  at  Chancellorsville ;  Max 
Cornheim  and  M.  Szegley  served  on  the  staff  of 
General  Sigel.  Jewish  staff  officers  on  the  Confederate 
side  were  equally  prominent.  North  Carolina  sent  six 
Cohen  brothers ;  South  Carolina  five  Moses  brothers ; 
Georgia,  Raphael  Moses  and  his  three  sons,  while  yet 
another  Moses  brother  came  from  Alabama.  Arkan¬ 
sas  furnished  three  Cohen  brothers ;  Virginia  sent  out 
three  Levy  brothers ;  Louisiana,  three  brothers  also 
Levys ;  while  a  trio  of  Goldsmiths  went  forth  from 
the  South,  two  from  Georgia  and  one  from  South 
Carolina;  Mississippi  sent  five  Jonas  brothers,  Ed¬ 
ward  fighting  in  the  Fiftieth  Illinois  against  his  four 
Confederate  brothers,  one  of  whom  was  Benj  amin  F. 
Jonas,  former  United  States  Senator  from  Louisiana. 

On  the  Union  side  New  York  alone  furnished 
1996  soldiers,  among  them  the  five  Wenk  brothers, 
Colonel  Simon  Levy  and  his  three  sons — Captain  Ben- 

[100] 


t 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

jamin  C.,  Lieutenant  Alfred,  and  Captain  Ferdinand. 
From  Ohio,  which  furnished  1004,  were  three  Koch 
brothers,  and  Pennsylvania,  among  52 7,  had  three 
Emanuel  brothers,  and  so  fourteen  Jewish  families 
furnished  fifty- three  men  to  both  armies  in  the  con¬ 
flict. 

Among  the  distinguished  officers  may  be  men¬ 
tioned,  next  to  Knefler,  Edward  Solomon,  Colonel 
of  the  Eighty-second  Illinois  Volunteer  Infantry, 
who  fought  in  six  battles  of  the  campaign  and  was 
brevetted  Brigadier-General ;  Leopold  Blumenberg,  a 
Baltimore  merchant  who  left  his  business  and  organ¬ 
ised  the  Fifth  Regiment  of  Maryland  Infantry  and 
fought  at  Antietam;  he  too  was  brevetted  Brigadier- 
General;  Philip  J.  Joachimsen,  who  organised  and 
commanded  the  Fifty-ninth  New  York  Volunteer 
Regiment,  in  recognition  for  his  services  Governor 
Fenton  of  New  York  appointed  him  Brevet-Brigadier- 
General  ;  Colonel  Marcus  Spiegel  of  the  One  Hundred 
and  Twentieth  Ohio  Infantry;  Max  Einstein,  Colonel 
of  the  Twenty-seventh  Regiment  of  Pennsylvania  Vol¬ 
unteers  ;  Colonel  Max  Freedman  of  the  Fifth  Penn¬ 
sylvania  Cavalry ;  Lieutenant-Colonel  Israel  Moses  of 
Sickles’  Brigade;  Isaac  Moses,  Adjutant-General  of 
the  Third  Army  Corps  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac ; 
Colonel  II.  A.  Seligson  of  Vermont ;  Lieutenant- 

[101] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 


Colonel  Leopold  C.  Newman,  to  whose  dying  bed 
President  Lincoln  brought  his  commission  promoting 
him  to  the  rank  of  Brigadier-General ;  Colonel  Ansel 
Hamberg  of  the  Twelfth  Pennsylvania  Infantry; 
Abraham  Hart,  Brigade-Adjutant-General  of  the 
Seventy-third  Pennsylvania  Infantry;  Elias  Leon 
Hyneman  of  the  Fifth  Pennsylvania  Cavalry ;  Cap¬ 
tain  Joseph  B.  Greenhut;  Lieutenant  Max  Sachs,  who 
was  killed  at  Bowling  Green ;  Colonel  Newbold  of  the 
Fourteenth  Iowa,  killed  at  Red  River ;  Adolph  A. 
Mayer,  Inspector-General  by  special  appointment  of 
President  Lincoln,  transferred  from  New  Mexico  to 
Pennsylvania ;  David  Manheim,  Colonel  First  Cav¬ 
alry  ;  Herman  Bendell,  Surgeon  Eighty-sixth  New 
York  Infantry;  Adjutant  Abraham  Cohen  of  New 
Hampshire ;  Captain  A.  Goldman  of  Maine ;  Sergeant 
Leopold  Karpelles  of  Massachusetts ;  Sergeant- 
Major  Alexander  Appel  of  Iowa;  David  A.  Brauski ; 
Henry  Heller,  Abraham  Gumwalt  and  Isaac  Gans 
of  Ohio — were  all  brave  and  daring  soldiers  who  did 
their  duty  well  by  their  country  and  reflected  honour 
on  the  race  from  which  they  had  sprung. 

IN  THE  WAR  WITH  SPAIN 

In  the  late  war  with  Spain  no  nationality  displayed 
greater  heroism.  It  is  said  that  the  first  volunteer  to 

[  102  ] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

answer  McKinley’s  call  was  a  Jew,  and  also  that  the 
first  to  fall  in  the  skirmish  was  also  a  Jew.  It  is  well 
known  that  the  Jews  served  both  in  the  army  and 
navy  in  numbers  far  beyond  their  numerical  propor¬ 
tion  to  the  population,  while  the  much-maligned  Rus¬ 
sian  Jews  furnished  more  than  double  their  share  of 
volunteers.  In  the  army  were  32  officers ;  in  the  navy 
27,  while  the  non-commissioned  men  amounted  to 
2451  in  the  army  and  42  in  the  navy,  but  we  may 
be  sure  that  the  total  aggregate  of  Jews  that  took 
part  in  the  conflict  on  land  and  water  exceeded  by 
far  this  number,  as  many  enlisted  concealing  their 
identities  as  Jews.  Indeed  it  is  safe  to  say  that  there 
were  fully  5000  men  of  the  Jewish  faith  in  the  Span¬ 
ish  War,  for  the  records  of  the  Department  show 
that  over  4000  furloughs  were  granted  to  soldiers 
for  the  purpose  of  celebrating  the  feasts  of  Rosh 
Hashanah  and  Yom  Kippur. 

Seven  Jews  made  the  dash  up  San  Juan  with  Roose¬ 
velt,  some  were  behind  the  guns  of  Dewey  at  Ma¬ 
nila,  and  of  the  land  forces  of  the  Philippines  the 
first  man  to  fall  in  the  attack  of  Manila  was  Sergeant 
Maurice  Justh  of  the  First  California  Volunteers,  a 
regiment  which  numbered  no  less  than  one  hundred 
Jews.  Among  the  ninety-nine  men  of  the  Astor 
Battery  ten  were  Jews.  There  was  not  a  single  en- 

[103] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

gagement  during  the  whole  war  in  Cuba,  Porto 
Rico,  or  the  Philippines  in  which  Jews  did  not  fight 
as  bravely  as  they  did  at  Leipzic  and  Waterloo  ;  under 
Kossuth  and  Garibaldi;  before  Sebastopol,  Sadowa, 
and  Sedan. 

On  the  battlefields  of  Europe  and  America  the  Jew 
has  certainly  shown  by  his  coolness,  courage,  and 
daring,  that  he  is  a  soldier  inferior  to  none,  but 
superior  to  many,  and  has  proved  his  patriotism  by 
offering  his  life  as  a  sacrifice  on  the  altar  of  the 
country  that  gives  a  home  to  himself  and  his  race. 


[  104] 


WHAT  THE  JEW  HAS  DONE  FOR  THE 
WORLD 


If  the  statistics  are  right,  the  Jews  constitute  but  one  per 
cent,  of  the  human  race.  It  suggests  a  nebulous  dim  puff  of 
star-dust  lost  in  the  blaze  of  the  Milky  Way.  Properly  the 
Jew  ought  hardly  to  be  heard  of;  but  he  is  heard  of,  has 
always  been  heard  of.  He  is  as  prominent  on  the  planet  as  any 
other  people,  and  his  commercial  importance  is  extravagantly 
out  of  proportion  to  the  smallness  of  his  bulk.  His  contribu¬ 
tions  to  the  world’s  list  of  great  names  in  literature,  science, 
art,  music,  finance,  medicine,  and  abstruse  learning  are  also 
away  out  of  proportion  to  the  weakness  of  his  numbers.  He 
has  made  a  marvellous  fight  in  this  world,  in  all  the  ages;  and 
has  done  it  with  his  hands  tied  behind  him.  He  could  be  vain 
of  himself,  and  be  excused  for  it.  The  Egyptian,  the  Babjr- 
Ionian,  and  the  Persian  arose,  filled  the  planet  with  sound  and 
splendour,  then  faded  to  dreamstuff  and  passed  away;  the 
Greek  and  the  Roman  followed,  and  made  a  vast  noise,  and 
they  are  gone;  other  peoples  have  sprung  up  and  held  their 
torch  high  for  a  time,  but  it  burned  out,  and  they  sit  in  twi¬ 
light  now  or  have  vanished.  The  Jew  saw  them  all,  beat  them 
all,  and  is  now  what  he  always  was,  exhibiting  no  decadence, 
no  infirmities  of  age,  no  weakening  of  his  parts,  no  slowing  of 
his  energies,  no  dulling  of  his  alert  and  aggressive  mind.  All 
things  are  mortal  but  the  Jew,  all  other  forces  pass,  but  he 
remains.  What  is  the  secret  of  his  immortality? — Mark 
Twain,  “  Concerning  the  Jews.” 


IV 

WHAT  THE  JEW  HAS  DONE  FOR  THE  WORLD 

From  the  days  of  Abraham,  or  almost  for  the  past 
four  thousand  years,  the  Israelites  have  kept  to  them¬ 
selves  as  a  distinct  race,  preserving  their  own  identity, 
adhering  to  every  tenet  of  their  religion,  retaining 
every  trait  of  character  and  jealously  guarding  every 
product  which  they  deemed  to  be  theirs.  They  have 
presented  to  the  world  a  unity  which  no  other  people 
has  been  able  to  show.  Though  scattered  throughout 
all  lands  from  the  rising  of  the  sun  to  the  going 
down  thereof,  the  children  of  Zion  are  one  to-day  in 
blood,  in  instinct,  in  faith,  and  in  fidelity  to  their 
race.  Time  or  place  makes  no  difference;  the  Jews 
of  the  present,  whether  on  the  snow-clad  wastes  of 
the  Arctic,  under  the  genial  skies  of  the  Temperate 
or  beneath  the  burning  suns  of  the  Torrid,  are  as 
much  Jews  in  heart  and  soul,  in  thought  and  tem¬ 
perament,  in  manner  and  voice,  and  even  in  physical 
appearance  as  were  the  far-off  ancestors  whom  Moses 

[107] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

led  from  the  vale  of  bondage  back  to  the  verge  of 
the  Promised  Land. 

All  other  nations  change — they  rise,  flourish,  and 
decay;  but  the  Jews  without  a  country  remain  sta¬ 
tionary,  the  same  to-day  as  in  the  ages  that  have 
passed  and  gone  forever.  They  have  seen  the  proud 
dynasties  of  history  crumble  in  the  dust,  they  have 
seen  victorious  hosts  returning  from  their  conquests, 
they  have  seen  civilisation  in  its  swaddling  clothes, 
and  have  watched  it  grow  to  a  lusty  youngster  and 
develop  into  a  full-fledged  maturity ;  the  world  has 
grown  old  as  they  have  looked  on,  yet  here  they  are 
as  pristine  in  their  vigour,  as  robust  in  their  manhood, 
as  strong  in  their  faith,  as  true  to  their  racial  char¬ 
acteristics  as  they  were  in  the  long  gone  days  when 
the  earth  was  young. 

Yet  with  all  their  unit}^  of  race  and  faith  and  pur¬ 
pose,  there  has  been  no  people  more  cosmopolitan. 
Without  losing  a  single  trait,  they  have  amalgamated 
with  all  nations  and  adapted  themselves  to  every  en¬ 
vironment,  taking  active  part  in  the  political,  social, 
and  intellectual  life  of  their  surroundings. 

Keeping  true  to  themselves  and  their  traditions, 
throughout  every  phase  and  under  all  circumstances, 
nevertheless,  they  have  laboured  faithfully  and  well 
for  the  common  interests  of  all  with  whom  their  lot 

[108] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

was  cast,  irrespective  of  all  considerations  of  race 
or  creed. 

The  Jew  has  been  ever  a  worker  and  has  cheerfully 
contributed  the  best  that  was  in  him  to  the  community 
and  country  of  his  adoption.  The  debt  that  the  world 
owes  to  the  Jew  is  no  small  one,  and  time  will  never 
be  able  to  repay  even  the  principal  to  the  race.  Up 
to  the  present  the  only  interest  they  have  received 
has  been  contumely,  insults,  buffetings,  and  perse¬ 
cution,  but  unmindful  of  all,  they  have  still  persevered 
and  done  their  duty  to  the  world  as  men  and  as 
citizens. 

We  cannot  realise  all  that  the  Jews  have  done  for 
civilisation  and  progress  and  enlightenment  until  we 
imagine  their  work  taken  away  and  view  the  vacuum 
that  would  be  left.  Science  would  become  bald  and 
ragged,  some  of  the  brightest  jewels  would  drop  from 
the.  crown  of  Literature  and  the  fairest  garments 
would  be  shed  from  the  shoulders  of  Art. 

THE  JEWS  AS  ASTRONOMERS 

In  the  earliest  ages  the  Jews  were  interested  in 
astronomy ;  when  tending  their  flocks  on  the  hills  of 
Judea,  they  would  watch  the  sun  in  his  diurnal  motion 
from  the  time  he  rose  in  the  Orient  until  he  set  in  the 
Occident,  and  they  would  note  the  different  seasons  of 

[109] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 


the  changing  year  as  measured  by  the  relative  posi¬ 
tion  of  the  earth  to  the  heavenly  bodies.  At  night 
when  the  stars  came  out  one  by  one  and  studded  the 
infinite  fields  of  heaven  like  sparkling  diamonds  on  a 
canopy  of  blue,  these  black-bearded  men  of  a  deeply 
religious  nature  and  strong  faith  were  struck  with 
awe,  and  they  bowed  down  in  adoration  before  the 
wonders  of  the  mighty  Jehovah. 

From  the  beginning  the  Jews  connected  the  stars 
with  their  religion  and  regulated  the  feasts  and 
festivals  in  accordance  with  their  movements,  which 
they  closely  observed  until  they  could  with  certainty 
tell  the  period  of  their  revolutions.  A  great  value  was 
put  upon  astronomical  knowledge,  and  those  who  were 
able  to  read  the  riddle  of  the  stars  were  held  in  respect 
and  reverence. 

Johan  an  ben  Zakkai,  a  Palestinian  tannci  of  the 
second  century  of  the  era,  and  who  was  called  44  Rab- 
bah  ”  (the  Great),  knew,  among  other  sciences, 
astronomy  to  a  very  high  degree;  he  was  the  first 
to  master  a  knowledge  of  the  solstices  and  the  calen¬ 
dar  and  had  the  ability  to  compute  the  orbits  of  the 
sun  and  other  planets. 

The  importance  attached  to  the  science  of  as¬ 
tronomy  may  be  gathered  from  the  words  of  an  early 
writer  who  declared  that,  44  to  him  who  can  compute 

[110] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 


the  course  of  the  sun  and  the  revolution  of  the  planets 
and  neglects  to  do  so,  may  be  applied  the  words  of 
the  prophet  (Isaiah  v.  12),  ‘  They  regard  not  the 
work  of  the  Lord,  neither  consider  the  operation  of 
His  hands.’  ” 

The  Jews,  however,  at  this  time  were  not  as  far 
advanced  in  astronomical  knowledge  as  the  Baby¬ 
lonians,  and  the  first  real  observations  were  not  made 
until  the  year  250  of  their  era,  when  Samuel,  who 
had  learned  in  the  Babylonian  schools,  measured  the 
heavens  and  claimed  to  possess  as  exact  a  knowledge 
of  the  starry  regions  as  he  had  of  the  streets  of  his 
own  city,  Nehardea. 

As  to  the  movement  of  the  stars  round  the  earth, 
of  course  the  Talmud  subscribes  to  the  geocentric 
world  conception,  as  did  all  astronomers  before  the 
time  of  Copernicus. 

After  the  first  period,  great  strides  were  made  in 
the  knowledge  of  the  heavenly  bodies  and  their  move¬ 
ments,  and  soon  the  Jews  turned  their  attention  to 
the  compilation  of  Tables.  In  830  Sind  ben  Ali,  under 
the  patronage  of  the  Sultan,  Maimum,  compiled  a 
series  of  very  valuable  astronomical  tables  and  data. 
In  1080  twelve  Jews  had  a  part  in  drawing  up  the 
Toledo  tables  under  the  direction  of  Ahman  ibn  Zaid, 
and  the  famous  tables  of  Pedro  IV.  were  also  cora- 

[111] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

piled  by  Jews.  In  the  year  1357  (Heg.  750)  Joseph 
ibn  Wakkar  still  improved  the  aforementioned  tables. 
Others  who  assisted  materially  in  table-making  for 
astronomical  observations  were  Mordecai  Comtino, 
Mattathia  Delacrut,  Farissol  Botarel,  Abraham  ibn 
Ezra,  Jacob  ben  Makir,  Emanuel  ben  Jacob,  Jacob 
ben  David  ben  Yom-Tob  Poel,  Solomon  ben  Elijah, 
and  Abraham  Zacuto. 

However,  the  earliest  Jew  to  treat  the  science  sys¬ 
tematically  was  Abraham  bar  Hiyya,  who  wrote  at 
Marseilles,  1134. 

Levi  ben  Gerson,  in  his  46  Wars  of  the  Lord,”  laid 
down  a  new  astronomy  different  from  the  conceived 
idea. 

In  Europe  the  chief  Jewish  name  connected  with 
astronomy  after  the  Renaissance  is  that  of  David 
Gans,  of  Prague,  who  died  in  1613.  Gans  knew  the 
Copernican  system,  but  stuck  to  that  of  Ptolemy. 
He  corresponded  with  Kepler,  Tycho  Brahe,  and 
Regiomontanus. 

The  modern  epoch  of  Jewish  astronomy  is  headed 
by  Sir  William  Herschel,  who  far  eclipsed  any  of  his 
predecessors.  He  made  a  systematic  survey  of  the 
heavens,  catalogued  the  nebulae  and  clusters,  and 
crowned  all  with  the  great  exploit  of  discovering 
Uranus,  the  most  distant  planet  in  our  system.  He 

[112] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

was  ably  assisted  by  his  sister,  Caroline  Herschel,  who 
had  also  a  wide  knowledge  of  the  science.  Sir  John 
Frederick  William  Herschel,  son  of  Sir  William,  also 
contributed  much  to  the  advancement  of  astronomical 
knowledge.  Other  Jews  who  distinguished  themselves 
in  this  field  during  the  nineteenth  century  were  W. 
Beer  (1797-1850),  brother  of  the  famous  composer, 
Meyerbeer,  and  who  was  the  first  man  to  draw  a  map 
of  the  moon;  H.  Goldschmidt  (1802-1866),  who  dis¬ 
covered  no  less  than  fourteen  asteroids,  and  the  late 
Morris  Loewy,  director  of  the  Paris  Observatory,  who 
invented  the  elbow  telescope,  by  which  the  stars  can 
be  studied  without  bending  the  neck  or  back. 

AS  MATHEMATICIANS 

The  necessity  of  studying  astronomy  for  calendric 
purposes  made  the  Jews  cultivate  different  branches 
of  mathematics,  especially  geometry  and  arithmetic. 
The  terms  64  bigon,”  44  trigon,”  44  tetragon,”  and 
44  pentagon,”  as  distinguishing  figures  with  two, 
three,  four,  and  five  angles,  occur  several  times  in  the 
Talmud.  The  ancient  Jews  were  acquainted  with  the 
properties  of  the  circle,  and  had  definitely  correct  the 
ratio  between  circumference  and  diameter — 3  1-7 
to  1. 

But  although  in  the  Talmudic  times  there  was  much 

[113] 


/ 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

mathematical  knowledge,  there  was  no  work  on  the 
subject  until  the  Judaeo-Arabic  period,  to  which 
belongs  the  44  Mishnat  Middot,”  the  oldest  mathemati¬ 
cal  work  in  Hebrew,  and  which  was  an  attempt  at 
propounding  the  elements  of  geometry.  It  was  first 
published  in  Berlin  in  1864.  No  other  works  on 
mathematics  were  written  in  Hebrew  until  the  twelfth 
century,  but  the  great  Jewish  astrologer,  Ma  Sha 
Allah,  wrote  a  treatise  on  the  subject  at  the  begin¬ 
ning  of  the  ninth  century  in  Arabic,  as  did  also  his 
contemporary,  Abu  Othman  Sahl  ibn  Bishr  ibn  Habib 
ibn  Hani,  dealing  chiefly  with  algebra.  A  Jewish  con¬ 
vert  to  Islam,  Sind  ben  Ali  wrote  a  commentary  on 
the  elements  of  Euclid.  A  work  published  in  1895  by 
the  Mekize  Nirdamin  Society  was  a  geometry  written 
by  Abraham  bar  Hiyya  ha-Nasi  in  the  tenth  century, 
entitled  44  Hibbur  ha-Meshihah  weha-Tishboret.”  In 
1278  Euclid’s  elements  were  translated  from  the 
Arabic  by  Moses  ibn  Tippon,  and  he  was  followed  by 
more  than  a  hundred  Jewish  commetators  on  Euclid. 

The  works  of  44  the  father  of  geometry  ”  were  first 
published  by  Abraham  ben  Joseph  Minz  in  Berlin, 
1795,  under  the  title  of  44  Reshit  Limmudim  hu  Sefer 
Iklides.”  In  the  thirteenth  century  Jacob  ben  Machir 
translated  from  Arabic  the  work  on  spherical  figures 
of  the  Alexandrian  mathematician,  Menelaus.  In  the 

[H4] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

sixteenth  century  David  Gans,  already  mentioned, 
wrote  three  learned  treatises  on  mathematics.  In  the 
seventeenth  century  Joseph  Delmedigo  wrote  on  ge¬ 
ometry,  trigonometry,  and  algebra.  The  most  noted 
Jew  mathematician  in  the  eighteenth  century  was 
Elijah  Wilna,  who  compiled  works  on  geometry,  alge¬ 
bra,  and  astronomy,  and  touched  upon  almost  all 
branches  of  the  science.  During  the  last  century 
many  works  on  different  branches  of  mathematics 
were  published  by  Hebrews.  Sylvester  especially  is 
highly  distinguished  in  the  field  of  algebra.  Jacobi 
(1804-1851),  the  German  geometrician,  gave  his 
name  to  certain  functions.  Cremona  Filipowski,  Ter- 
quem,  Maurice  Levy,  Gompertz,  Bendavid,  Blum, 
Kronecker,  and  Cantor  are  European  Jews  who 
gained  high  places  as  mathematicians  among  modern 
scholars.  The  foremost  living  authority  on  the  theory 
of  numbers  is  Minkowski.  Pasch  has  made  important 
geometrical  investigations  on  complexes,  Prinsheim 
on  the  theory  of  functions,  and  Schlesinger  on  dif¬ 
ferential  equations.  Schwarzchild,  director  of  the  Ob¬ 
servatory  at  Gottingen,  has  added  much  to  the  knowl¬ 
edge  of  mathematical  astronomy.  Weingart  is  the 
foremost  living  authority  on  the  theory  of  surfaces. 

Italian  Jews  have  made  famous  records,  especially 
in  the  domain  of  analytic  and  synthetic  geometry, 

[115] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 


notable  among  them  being  Castelnuovo,  Enriquez, 
Fano,  Jung,  Beppo  Levy,  Levi-Civita,  Segre,  Loria, 
and  Volterra. 

Russian  Jews  have  not  lagged  behind  in  the  same 
domain.  Schapiro  is  known  to  scholars  the  world  over 
for  his  co-functions  and  algebraic  iteration,  and 
Slonimski  as  the  inventor  of  a  counting-machine,  be¬ 
sides  being  the  editor  of  Jewish  calendars. 

AS  INVENTORS 

As  inventors  Jews  have  manifested  mechanical 
genius  of  a  high  order  whenever  an  opportunity  was 
given  them  for  a  display  of  talent  in  this  direction. 
They  were  cunning  artisans  at  the  very  earliest  period 
in  their  history,  showing  much  skill  in  metal-working, 
as  well  as  in  wood-carving  and  stone  sculpture.  They 
invented  very  ingenious  tools  which  enabled  them  to 
excel  in  many  handicrafts  and  trades.  For  gold¬ 
smelting  and  refining  they  had  a  pot  called  the  “  kur,5> 
of  a  peculiar  shape,  by  which  the  pure  metal  could  be 
very  easily  separated  from  the  ore  or  any  alloy  with 
which  it  was  associated.  When  refined  they  could 
chase  and  emboss  it  to  a  high  degree  of  perfection 
in  art. 

Even  though  the  time  of  which  we  speak  was 
primitive  the  Jews  had  made  a  wonderful  progress 

[116] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 


as  farmers  and  tillers  of  the  soil,  and  in  order  to 
expedite  their  work  in  this  direction  invented  divers 
kinds  of  implements  and  machinery  which  served  their 
purposes  equally  as  well  as  the  boasted  inventions  of 
modern  time  serve  us.  They  had  ploughs,  harrows, 
threshers,  and  winnowing  devices,  and  for  the  pur¬ 
pose  of  transit  made  comfortable  seats  which  they 
slung  over  the  sides  of  the  oxen  and  tied  by  a  series 
of  straps  in  such  a  position  that  it  was  impossible 
for  the  animals  to  discard  their  riders.  Oxen  were 
the  beasts  of  burden  used  for  all  occasions.  They 
were  strong  and  with  kind  usage  became  exceedingly 
tractable. 

For  the  weaving  of  textile  fabrics  and  for  em¬ 
broideries,  the  ancient  Jews  had  curious  looms  which 
turned  out  the  finished  product  in  a  way  which  would 
baffle  the  genius  of  modern  mechanism.  This  ancient 
weaving  is  a  lost  Art,  buried  in  the  centuries  of  time. 

After  they  had  lost  their  individuality  as  a  distinct 
nation,  the  inventive  faculty  of  the  Jews  lay  dormant 
for  a  long  period,  and  during  the  weary  wanderings 
and  the  series  of  persecutions  to  which  they  were  sub¬ 
jected,  there  was  but  little  encouragement  to  arouse 
it  from  the  torpor  into  which  it  had  fallen,  but  at 
length  the  march  of  modern  necessity  awoke  it  from 
its  slumber,  and  despite  the  many  obstacles  in  the 

[  in  ] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

way,  it  has  enabled  the  Jew  to  give  a  good  account 
of  himself  in  the  world  of  invention.  Richard  Lie- 
briech,  an  ophthalmologist,  invented  the  eye-mirror 
which  has  done  excellent  service  for  the  profession 
and  was  the  forerunner  of  many  devices  along  similar 
lines. 

Abraham  Stern,  a  Polish  Jew,  was  among  the 
greatest  inventors  of  Europe  in  the  early  part  of  the 
nineteenth  century.  He  was  born  at  Lublin,  1769, 
and  died  at  Warsaw,  1842.  In  1817  he  perfected  a 
device  for  calculating  the  square  root  of  numbers, 
which  attracted  wide  attention ;  he  next  invented  a 
topographical  wagon  for  the  measurement  of  level- 
surfaces,  an  invention  which  proved  of  valuable  as¬ 
sistance  to  civil  and  military  engineers.  He  also 
turned  his  faculties  to  the  improvement  of  agricul¬ 
tural  machinery,  and  designed  threshers,  harvesters, 
and  other  implements  and  machines  for  the  farm, 
with  the  result  that  manual  labour  was  brought  to 
a  discount.  The  sickle  Stern  invented  came  into 
general  use  all  over  Europe.  In  addition  to  all  these, 
he  showed  his  fertile  genius  in  a  device  by  which  the 
danger  of  runaways  became  eliminated  by  means  of 
a  detachable  tongue  and  brake.  Besides  being  an  in¬ 
ventor,  Stern  was  a  poet  of  high  merit. 

A.  Bernstein  (1812-1884)  patented  an  invention 

[118] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

by  which  two  distinct  telegraph  messages  could  be 
sent  over  one  wire  at  the  same  time.  He  also  invented 
an  automatically  closing  gate  for  railway  crossings 
which,  had  it  been  universally  put  into  operation, 
would  have  saved  hundreds  of  lives.  Slonimski,  the 
Russian  Jew  already  mentioned  as  the  inventor  of  a 
calculating  machine,  discovered  a  chemical  process  for 
plating  iron  vessels  with  lead,  and  also  brought  out 
an  electro-chemical  device  for  sending  quadruple  tele¬ 
grams.  On  this  the  late  Lord  Kelvin  (Sir  William 
Thomson)  based  his  system  of  multiple  telegraphy. 
Slonimski  was  one  of  the  greatest  scholars  and  writers 
of  his  age.  Emile  Berliner  invented  the  loose-contact 
telephone  transmitter  or  microphone,  now  universally 
employed,  and  he  also  has  given  us  the  gramaphone. 

In  the  Patent  Office  at  Washington  are  hundreds 
of  Jewish  names,  showing  that  the  freedom  of 
America  has  been  conducive  in  bringing  out  the  in¬ 
ventive  genius  of  the  race  and  fostering  it  into  a 
good  fruition. 

AS  DISCOVERERS  AND  EXPLORERS 

The  civilisation  of  the  world  has  been  much  bene¬ 
fited  by  the  hardy  daring  of  the  Jew  in  opening  up 
unknown  lands  for  the  pioneers  of  progress.  In 
various  ways  members  of  the  race  have  contributed 

[  ] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

to  the  advancement  of  geographical  science.  Ben¬ 
jamin  of  Tudela  was  the  chief  traveller  of  the  Middle 
Ages.  He  explored  almost  the  whole  world  of  his 
time,  in  the  eight  years  from  1165  to  1173.  His  book, 
“  Iter  Benjaminum,”  has  been  translated  into  nearly 
every  European  language.  Pethahiah  of  Regensburg 
was  a  contemporary  of  Benjamin,  and  travelled  from 
Poland  to  Bagdad  and  Jerusalem  and  back  through 
Greece  and  Bohemia.  In  1306,  after  the  expulsion  of 
the  Jews  from  France,  one  of  their  number,  Estori 
Frahi,  travelled  over  Spain  and  thence  to  Egypt  and 
Palestine,  gathering  much  geographical  knowledge 
of  those  countries. 

We  have  seen  that  the  Jews  in  the  fifteenth  century 
very  materially  helped  Columbus  in  the  discovery  of 
America. 

A  Jew  named  Jehonadab,  of  Morocco,  explored  the 
whole  northern  part  of  Africa,  and  in  his  travels  ac¬ 
quired  twenty-eight  languages  and  dialects.  Antonio 
de  Montesinos  penetrated  into  the  wilds  of  South 
America,  and  on  his  return  claimed  to  have  discovered 
there  the  lost  Ten  Tribes  of  Israel. 

During  the  past  century  the  Jews  came  well  to  the 
front  as  explorers.  Joseph  Wolf  went  into  hitherto 
unknown  Bokhara.  Nathaniel  Isaacs  travelled  over 
Zululand  and  Natal,  and  C.  S.  Pollack  braved  the 

[120] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

dangers  of  far-off  New  Zealand.  W.  G.  Palgrave 
gave  an  interesting  account  of  Arabia,  Arminius 
Vambery  told  of  his  experiences  in  Central  Asia, 
Captain  Binger  discovered  the  bend  of  the  Niger, 
and  Captain  Foa  wandered  from  South  to  North 
Africa.  Angelo  Heilprin,  Israels,  and  Bessel  were 
among  the  daring  spirits  that  made  a  dash  for  the 
Pole.  Emin  Pasha  (Schnitzler),  (1840-1893),  Gus¬ 
tav  Oppert,  the  German  explorer,  and  Ed.  Glaser, 
the  Arabist,  are  a  few'  names  of  Hebrews  wTho  in  re¬ 
cent  years  won  distinction  as  discoverers. 

THE  JEW  IN  MEDICINE 

The  Jew  in  the  professions  occupies  such  a  large 
space  that  to  individualise  wrould  be  a  presumption 
and  an  injustice  as  well,  for  the  risk  is  that  the  least 
deserving  might  be  favoured  at  the  expense  of  those 
of  the  best  merit,  yet  there  are  some  wdio  cannot  be 
passed,  and  their  names  will  be  the  only  excuse  for 
giving  them  mention  here. 

In  medicine  alone  the  Jew  has  a  record  from  a  time 
wrhich  by  far  antedates  JEsculapius  down  to  the  great 
physicians  and  surgeons  of  his  race  who  are  blessing 
and  benefiting  the  world  at  the  present  time  by  their 
knowledge  and  skill.  Perhaps  the  great  number  of 
doctors  to  be  found  in  all  ages  and  all  countries 

[121] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

among  the  children  of  Israel  may  be  accounted  for 
by  the  fact  that  those  who  minister  to  the  health 
of  their  fellows  are  looked  upon  by  the  rest  of  the 
race  as  the  messengers  of  God  and  the  executors  of 
His  will.  “  I  kill  and  I  make  alive,  I  wound  and  I 
heal,”  said  the  Lord  through  His  servant,  Moses 
(Deut.  xxxii.  39).  In  ancient  times  the  art  of  heal¬ 
ing  wras  transmitted  from  father  to  son,  and  was 
deemed  a  part  of  the  religion.  All  the  Rabbis  were 
skilled  in  pathology,  and  they  were  the  very  first  to 
recognise  that  the  symptoms  of  all  diseases  are  out¬ 
ward  signs  of  internal  changes  in  the  tissue.  Besides 
pathology  and  medicine,  the  ancient  Jews  devoted 
much  time  to  the  art  of  surgery,  in  which  they  became 
highly  proficient,  and  even  at  that  early  day  they 
had  anaesthetics  to  deaden  the"  pain  of  operations, 
but  strange  as  it  may  seem,  with  a  race  which  has 
preserved  every  vestige  and  trace  and  tradition  and 
manner  and  custom  of  its  progenitors,  the  secret  of 
the  anaesthesia  of  the  old  Semitic  surgeons  was  lost 
through  the  ages,  and  though  an  American  has  dis¬ 
covered  an  effective  pain-killer,  it  is  safe  to  say  that 
its  components  differ  much  from  those  used  in  Tal¬ 
mudic  times,  and  that  it  is  of  inferior  efficacy. 

The  Jewish  physicians,  too,  were  all  well  skilled  in 
the  use  of  anodynes.  The  surgeons  were  strong  advo- 

[132] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 


cates  of  venesection,  going  the  length  of  teaching  that 
all  normal  individuals  to  keep  in  health  should  be  bled 
once  a  month,  and  we  know  that  this  doctrine  of  theirs 
came  down  to  recent  date  in  the  form  of  what  has 
been  known  as  “  cupping  ”  or  blood-letting,  and  is 
even  practised  to  this  day.  The  old  Jews  also  bled 
by  leeches  the  same  as  modern  surgeons. 

In  setting  bones  they  were  most  skilful  and  could 
even  trephine  the  skull,  and  it  is  also  interesting  to 
know  that  these  primitive  surgeons  of  a  far-off  time 
were  splendid  dentists ;  they  extracted  teeth  pain¬ 
lessly  and  inserted  false  ones,  made  out  of  gold  or 
silver,  with  an  adeptness  and  skill  that  could  make  a 
modern  disciple  of  the  art  grow  green  with  envy. 
For  this  work,  as  for  all  kinds  of  surgery,  they  had 
as  delicate  and  perfect  instruments  as  any  of  the 
present  time.  In  fact  the  ancient  Jews  were  experts 
in  all  kinds  of  surgery,  and,  it  may  be  stated,  per¬ 
formed  the  so-called  Caesarean  operation — cutting  the 
foetus  from  the  side — -a  thousand  years  before  the 
great  Roman  came  into  the  world  in  that  manner. 

As  to  circumcision,  it  is  distinctly  a  Jewish  rite, 
but  not  exclusively  Jewish,  for  it  was  practised  in 
Arabia  and  all  over  Ethopia,  and  it  is  interesting  to 
note  that  the  custom  has  prevailed  among  savages, 
who  possibly  could  never  have  heard  of  the  Jews,  nor 

[123] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 


much  less  have  had  any  communication  with  them. 
From  the  earliest  explorations  in  Africa  it  was  found 
a  common  practice  with  the  black  man,  and  the 
aborigines  of  Australia  performed  it  long  before  Van 
Dieman  or  Tasman  or  old  Dirk  Hartog  set  eyes  on 
the  Southern  continent.  Therefore,  the  question  may 
be  asked,  how  did  the  rite  or  custom  originate  among 
these  savages?  Probably  in  the  self-same  way  as 
among  the  Jews,  viz.,  Nature  taught  it  to  them  for 
utilitarian  purposes,  though  it  is  claimed  that  it 
was  not  on  these  grounds  that  it  was  practised  among 
the  Jews.  The  latter  regarded  it  both  as  a  consecra¬ 
tion  to  God  and  also  as  a  sacrifice.  The  Book  of 
Jubilees  (xv.  26-27)  says  :  44  Whosoever  is  uncircum¬ 
cised  belongs  to  the  sons  of  Belial,  to  the  children 
of  doom  and  eternal  perdition.  .  .  .  God’s  anger 
will  be  kindled  against  the  children  of  the  Covenant, 
if  they  make  the  members  of  their  body  appear  like 
those  of  the  Gentiles,  and  they  will  be  expelled  and 
exterminated  from  the  earth.” 

The  proselytes  who  were  brought  over  to  the  Abra- 
hamic  faith  had  to  undergo  circumcision  before  being 
admitted  to  the  fold. 

No  matter  what  its  origin,  whether  utilitarian  or 
religious,  the  custom  has  survived  through  the  ages, 
and  that  it  is  a  good  one  from  a  hygienic  standpoint 

[124] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 


there  can  be  no  doubt.  Modern  surgery  has  recognised 
the  good  that  is  in  it,  the  best  physicians  advise  the 
operation,  cleanliness  demands  it,  so  that  in  the 
progress  of  civilisation,  it  may  become  an  universal 
custom  among  all  peoples.  The  uncircumcised  are 
most  liable  to  suffer  from  phimosis,  which  is  a  most 
annoying  condition  resulting  from  the  pus  secreted 
between  the  prepuce  and  the  glans,  and  which,  in  re¬ 
turn,  gives  rise  to  many  serious  diseases,  even  epilepsy 
and  insanity. 

Not  alone  was  the  early  Jew  distinguished  in  sur¬ 
gery,  but  he  had  a  good  knowledge  also  of  materia 
medica.  He  was  a  man  who  liked  to  wrest  the  secrets 
of  Nature  from  her,  and  therefore  he  diligently 
studied  in  Nature’s  great  book.  He  acquired  much 
from  the  study  of  plants  and  herbs,  so  that  it  may 
be  said  he  had  a  pharmacopoeia  of  his  own  in  the 
early  days  before  the  schools  of  Greece  or  Rome 
taught  the  healing  art  or  understood  even  the  func¬ 
tions  of  the  human  body. 

The  persecutions  of  the  Jews  under  Honorius 
(404-419)  gave  a  great  setback  to  medicine,  for, 
apart  from  the  physical  suffering,  they  were,  in  ad¬ 
dition,  deprived  of  the  right  to  study  or  practise 
either  medicine  or  surgery.  But  with  the  spread  of 
Mohammedanism  a  favourable  period  dawned  for  the 

[125] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

Israelites,  and  they  were  allowed  again  to  take  up  the 
study  of  medicine  and  surgery.  Great  doctors  arose 
among  them — Abu  Hafsah  Yazzid  (643),  physician 
to  Mohammed’s  successor,  the  Caliph  Omar;  Masar- 
jawaih  (Messer  Jawait)  (883),  another  royal  phy¬ 
sician,  who  translated  into  Arabic  a  work  on  plant  life 
and  foods;  Ishak  ben  Amram  (799),  who  wrote  a 
work  on  toxicology ;  the  great  Haroun  al  Raschid 
(786-809),  founder  of  the  University  and  Medical 
Schools  of  Bagdad  ;  the  renowned  Maimonides  (1135- 
1205),  who  went  from  Spain  to  Egypt  and  became 
Court  physician  to  the  Sultan  Saladin,  and  who  had 
five  descendants  who  also  held  the  office  of  nagid.  The 
pupils  of  this  famous  physician  were  renowned  for 
knowledge  and  skill  and  reflected  much  credit  upon 
his  teaching;  Ibn  Zakariyya  (1190),  physician  to  the 
Mongol  Khan,  Arghun,  and  who  was  killed  because 
he  could  not  cure  his  master  of  an  incurable  malady ; 
Haroun  al  Raschid’ s  son,  the  Caliph  Mamun,  founder 
of  the  University  of  Bassora,  and  Ephraim  ibn  Alf- 
zaran,  wrho  had  also  been  a  physician  to  the  Sultan 
Saladin. 

After  the  fourteenth  century  the  Jewish  doctors 
scattered  westwards,  following  in  the  wake  of  the 
conquering  armies  of  Arabia.  They  travelled  over 
Egypt,  Turkey,  Greece,  Spain,  Italy,  Germany, 

[  126  ] 


,  JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

France,  and  even  England.  Tlie  Spanish  doctors  be¬ 
came  the  best  known,  but  in  1412  John  II.  issued  an 
edict  forbidding  them  to  practise  in  that  country,  and 
so  they  were  compelled  to  cross  over  the  border  and 
join  their  French  brethren.  Among  the  names  which 
stand  out  pre-eminently  in  the  profession  at  this  time 
are  those  of  Jacob  Lunel,  Nathan  Touros,  Hayyim 
Bendig,  Simon  Mordecai,  and  Cohen  of  Marseilles. 
From  France  many  distinguished  men  passed  over 
to  Belgium  and  there  founded  medical  schools  from 
which  came  numbers  of  distinguished  students. 

In  Germany  Jewish  doctors  had  also  a  good  stand¬ 
ing,  though  the  Universities  of  the  country  were  then 
closed  against  them.  There  were  Jacob  of  Stras¬ 
bourg,  who  practised  at  Frankfort  (1378),  Barusch 
(1390),  Solomon  Pletsch  of  Ratisbon  (1394),  Isaac 
Friedrich,  Speyer,  and  Lembelin ;  at  Wurzburg  there 
was  Seligman  (1407),  physician  to  Bishop  John  I., 
whose  successor,  John  II.,  permitted  a  Jewish  woman, 
Sarah,  to  practise  medicine  in  his  diocese,  the  pioneer 
feminine  JEsculapian  in  Germany;  another  Jewess 
named  Zerlin  in  1745  was  an  oculist  at  Frankfort-on- 
the-Main.  Many  others  of  the  ancient  race  achieved 
fame  in  the  medical  field  in  Germany,  but  at  the  be¬ 
ginning  of  the  sixteenth  century  hostilities  broke  out 
against  Jewish  physicians  and  surgeons,  and  for  a 

[  127] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

long  time  they  suffered  in  silence  and  resignation. 
Although  they  were  openly  denounced  and  denied  the 
rights  of  their  Christian  fellow  men,  in  secret  they 
were  regarded  as  able  exponents  of  their  profession, 
and  this  was  true,  not  alone  of  Germany,  but  of  other 
countries  that  were  openly  hostile  to  them.  While 
they  were  looked  down  upon  on  account  of  their 
faith,  they  were  looked  up  to  for  learning  and  skill. 
While  many  of  the  Popes  were  fulminating  against 
them  and  issuing  condemnatory  “  bulls,”  they  them¬ 
selves  would  allow  none  but  Jewish  physicians  and 
surgeons  to  attend  to  the  ills  of  their  bodies.  Some 
of  the  Jewish  doctors  came  over  to  Christianity,  the 
most  notable  of  these  being  Josiah  Lorki  of  Spain, 
physician  to  Benedict  XIII. ;  this  man  became  the 
most  rabid  persecutor  of  his  former  co-religionists  in 
the  profession,  so  that  he  received  the  nickname  of 
u  The  Calumniator.”  Other  Jewish  physicians  to  the 
Popes  were  Isaac  Zaarfati,  attendant  of  Clement 
VII.,  Giacomo  Mantini,  of  Paul  III.,  Grosefonti  Zaar¬ 
fati,  of  Julius  II.  As  attendants  on  royal  sovereigns, 
Don  Judah  ben  Moses  Cohen  served  Alfonso  X.,  sur- 
named  “  the  Wise,”  of  Navarra,  Joseph  Orabuena, 
Charles  III.,  Meier  Alguades,  Don  Henry  III.  of 
Castile;  in  Germany,  Jacob  ben  Jechiel  Loans,  Fred¬ 
erick  III. ;  Benjamin  Musafia,  King  Christian  IV.  of 

[128] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 


Denmark ;  and  Elias  Montalto,  Maria  de  Medici. 
Francis  II.  of  France  refused  to  employ  Christian 
physicians,  and  when  on  sending  to  Spain  for  a  Jew¬ 
ish  physician  he  could  not  obtain  any  from  there,  he 
sent  to  Constantinople.  Farragut  was  court  phys¬ 
ician  to  Charlemagne.  Maimonides  was  physician  to 
Saladin  and  refused  the  invitation  to  be  court  phys¬ 
ician  to  Richard  Coeur  de  Lion.  Rodrigo  Lopez  was 
court  physician  to  Queen  Elizabeth.  There  was  a  time 
indeed  when  the  Jews  held  the  lives  of  royal  Europe 
in  their  hands. 

Coming  down  to  our  own  times  we  find  that  the 

Jews  distinguished  themselves  in  every  realm  of  medi- 

% 

cine  and  surgery  during  the  nineteenth  century,  as 
anatomists,  physiologists,  microscopists,  embryolo¬ 
gists,  pathologists,  clinicians,  gynaecologists,  phar¬ 
macologists,  aurists,  ophthalmologists,  laryngolog¬ 
ists,  dermatologists,  neuropathists,  osteopathists, 
psychiatrists,  electrotherapists,  hygienists,  balneolog¬ 
ists,  and  biologists  in  general.  Just  a  few  out  of  hun¬ 
dreds  of  the  leaders  may  be  mentioned ;  Bernhard  van 
Oven,  London  (1787-1860)  ;  Martin  Steinthal,  Ber¬ 
lin  (1798-1892) ;  Raphael  Kosch,  Berlin  (1803- 
1872) ;  Maximilian  Heine,  brother  to  the  famous 
poet,  St.  Petersburg  (1805-1879)  ;  Isaac  A.  Frank¬ 
lin,  London  (1812-1880)  ;  Ludwig  Traube,  Berlin, 

[129] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

(1818-1876),  great  as  clinician,  famous  as  teacher, 
and  whose  essays  were  epoch-making;  Jacob  Eduard 
Polak,  Vienna  (1819-1891);  Ernest  Abraham  Hart, 
London  (1886-1898)  ;  Freidrich  Gustav  Jacob  Henle, 
Gottingen  (1809-1885)  ;  Jacob  Herz,  Erlangen 
(1816-1871);  (to  this  doctor  has  been  erected  one 
of  the  three  monuments  allowed  to  be  dedicated  to 
Jews  in  Germany);  Scigmund  Spitzer,  physician  to 
the  Sultan,  Constantinople  (1839-1891)  ;  Moritz 
Schiff,  Geneva  (1823-1896)  ;  Ludwig  Traube,  father 
of  experimental  pathology,  Berlin  (1818-1876)  ; 
Michelangelo  Asson,  Venice  (1802-1877)  ;  Michael 
Levy,  Paris  (1809-1872)  ;  and  Ludwig  Lewin  Jacob¬ 
son,  Copenhagen  (1783-1843).  0.  M.  E.  Liebreich 
discovered  in  1869,  among  other  new  remedies,  the 
use  of  the  narcotic  effect  of  chloral  hydrate.  Sem- 
melweis  first  discovered  the  true  cause  of  puerperal 
infection  (child-bed  fever). 

In  the  United  States  of  America  Jews  have  well 
sustained  the  reputation  of  the  profession.  Jacob 
Lumbrozo  was  the  first  Israelite  to  practise  medicine ; 
he  located  in  the  State  of  Maryland  as  far  back  as 
1639.  Others  followed  from  time  to  time,  coming 
from  almost  every  European  country.  At  the  present 
time  in  some  of  the  towns  and  cities,  Jewish  doctors 
are  in  the  majority.  During  recent  years  the  race  has 

[130] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

been  represented  by  such  men  as  Mark  Blumenthal, 
David  A.  D’Ancona,  Max  Rosenthal,  J.  F.  Scham- 
berg,  C.  D.  Spivak,  Albert  Abrams,  Isaac  Adler, 
Nathan  Jacobson,  M.  D.  Lederman,  Solomon  da 
Silva  Solis-Cohen,  Joseph  Frankel,  and  Jacques  Loeb. 
It  may  be  stated  that  Jews  also  came  well  to  the  front 
as  dentists  in  America,  the  best  known  in  this  branch 
being  Leopold  Greenbaum  and  John  I.  Hart.  At  the 
present  day  the  Jewish  physicians  and  surgeons  oc¬ 
cupy  a  commanding  position  as  to  numbers  and  skill, 
both  in  Europe  and  America,  but  discrimination  pre¬ 
vents  the  mention  of  names. 

IN  THE  LAW 

As  to  law,  it  would  almost  serve  our  purpose  to 
say  that  the  Jew  is  a  born  lawyer.  He  springs  from 
a  nation  of  law-makers  and  law-givers,  and  as  such 
law  may  be  said  to  be  flesh  of  his  flesh  and  bone  of  his 
bone.  To  him  the  “  Torah  ”  is  part  of  his  life,  as 
necessary  to  being  as  air  and  water.  He  subscribes 
to  all  the  teachings  of  his  faith  as  laid  down  in 
Talmudic  form;  this  is  the  codal  and  ceremonial  law, 
and  as  the  civil  law  is  based  upon  this,  it  is  to  be 
expected  that  the  Jew  is  more  or  less  acquainted  with 
his  duties  towards  the  community  in  which  his  lot 
is  cast.  No  one  can  deny  that  as  a  man  the  Jew  is 

[131] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 


a  law-abiding  citizen  and  very  seldom  breaks  the  laws 
of  the  country  of  his  adoption;  in  fact,  as  long  as 
he  keeps  true  to  his  faith  and  the  traditions  of  his 
ancestors,  he  does  not  break  them  at  all ;  it  is  only 
when  he  mixes  with  aliens  and  imbibes  their  vices 
and  imitates  their  manners  and  customs  that  he  falls 
away  from  a  righteous  living  and  infringes  the 
statutes  of  his  country.  In  many  lands  he  helps  to 
make  the  laws  and  sustain  them.  He  is  in  the  senate, 
on  the  bench,  he  acts  as  prosecutor,  and  he  takes  his 
place  as  advocate;  in  a  hundred  ways  it  is  given  to 
him  to  conserve  the  interests  of  justice. 

In  all  countries  the  Jew  has  a  wonderful  penchant 
for  the  legal  profession ;  he  naturally  gravitates  to¬ 
wards  it,  for  he  is  generally  gifted  with  a  forensic 
talent  which  he  knows  will  serve  him  in  good  stead  in 
this  calling;  he  is  a  born  pleader,  and  will  not  give 
in  his  gun  until  the  last  shot  has  been  fired,  and 
although  he  may  be  often  conquered,  he  will  never 
acknowledge  defeat.  He  has  made  a  mighty  reputa¬ 
tion  both  at  the  bar  of  Europe  and  America.  One 
of  the  greatest  jurists  of  the  nineteenth  century  was 
Eduard  Gans  (1798-1839),  the  associate  of  the 
famous  Hegel,  whose  philosophical  opinions  he 
adopted.  Having  become  a  nominal  convert  to  Chris¬ 
tianity,  he  was  appointed  a  professor  extraordinary 

[132] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 


in  the  University  of  Berlin,  where  his  lectures  drew 
crowded  audiences.  Edward  Lasker  (1839-1889) 
gave  to  the  world  an  erudite  work  on  the  constitu¬ 
tional  history  of  Prussia.  L.  Goldsmidt  (1829-1891) 
was  another  distinguished  German  jurist.  A  Jew,  T. 
M.  C.  Asser,  is  the  foremost  Dutch  jurist  of  the 
century.  In  France,  Isaac  Adolphe  Cremieux  (1796- 
1881)  rose  to  a  high  degree  of  fame  at  the  bar,  while 
Luigi  Luzzati  has  reflected  an  equal  lustre  on  Italian 
jurisprudence.  J.  Glaser  (1831-1885)  was  the  most 
prominent  figure  on  the  legal  stage  of  Austria. 
Francis  Goldsmid,  admitted  to  practise  at  the  Chan¬ 
cery  bar  in  1833,  was  the  first  of  his  faith  to  be  ad¬ 
mitted  to  the  English  bar,  which  he  adorned  by  his 
eloquence  and  wit.  He  was  followed  in  the  British 
courts  by  John  Simon,  who  was  the  first  Jewish  bar¬ 
rister  in  England  to  practise  at  the  common-law  bar, 
being  admitted  1842.  In  1813  George  Jessel  was  ad¬ 
vanced  to  the  high  dignity  of  Master  of  the  Rolls. 
Another  Jew,  Sir  George  H.  Lewis,  became  the  most 
successful  solicitor  in  London ;  he  instructed  the  late 
Lord  Russell  of  Killowen,  then  Sir  Charles  Russell,  in 
the  great  libel  action  of  Parnell  against  the  Times , 
and  he  was  engaged  in  many  other  celebrated  cases, 
and  earned  for  himself  the  title  of  the  English 
Choate. 


[  133  ] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

In  America  the  foremost  legal  light  of  the  Jewish 
race  was  Judah  P.  Benjamin,  who  declined  President 
Pierce’s  offer  of  a  judgeship  on  the  Supreme  Court 
Bench  on  account  of  his  extensive  private  practice, 
and  who  was  chosen  in  1852  as  United  States  Senator 
from  Louisiana.  On  one  occasion  he  appeared  for 
the  side  opposed  by  Daniel  Webster  in  the  United 
States  Supreme  Court;  Webster  talked  for  three 
hours  and  made  one  of  his  finest  efforts.  Then  came 
Benjamin,  a  little  wizened,  dried-up  man,  with  a 
thin  and  hollow  voice,  and  talked  for  twenty  minutes, 
when  the  Chief  Justice  turned  to  his  colleagues  and 
whispered :  “  Great  Heavens !  that  little  man  has 
stated  Webster  out  of  court  in  twenty  minutes.”  On 
Benjamin’s  withdrawal  from  the  United  States  Senate 
on  February  4,  1860,  he  was  at  once  appointed  At¬ 
torney  General  in  the  Provisional  Government  of  the 
Southern  Confederacy.  In  the  following  August  he 
Avas  appointed  Acting  Secretary  of  War ;  subse¬ 
quently  he  became  Secretary  of  State,  which  posi¬ 
tion  he  held  till  the  downfall  of  the  Southern  Con¬ 
federacy.  In  1865  he  went  to  London  and  wras  called 
to  the  English  bar.  At  first  he  had  very  hostile  op¬ 
position,  but  he  overcame  it  by  his  genius  and  con¬ 
verted  it  into  respect.  When  failing  health  compelled 
him  to  retire  in  1883  the  most  famous  men  in  London 

[134] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 


tendered  him  a  banquet  in  the  Inner  Temple  and  vied 
with  one  another  to  honour  the  little  man  who  had 
conferred  honour  on  the  bar  of  the  metropolis. 

America  has  also  seen  other  great  Jewish  lumi¬ 
naries  pass  across  her  horizon.  Moses  Levy,  admitted 
to  the  Philadelphia  bar  in  1778,  became  presiding 
judge  for  the  District  Court  of  the  city  and  county 
of  Philadelphia.  Franklin  J.  Moses  (1840-1877)  ivas 
Chief  Justice  of  South  Carolina;  Solomon  Heyden- 
feldt  was  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  California 
in  1871.  At  bench  and  bar  many  Jews  hold  dis¬ 
tinguished  places  to-day,  reflecting  lustre  on  the 
country  they  are  proud  to  call  home  and  on  the  race 
to  wfliich  they  are  also  proud  to  belong. 

IN  POLITICS 

Not  until  recently  has  the  Jew  come  forward  promi¬ 
nently  in  politics,  and  this  can  be  attributed  to  the 
fact  that  throughout  the  ages  he  had  always  been 
subjected  to  more  or  less  persecution,  and  therefore, 
he  naturally  did  not  take  much  interest  in  the  gov¬ 
ernment  under  which  he  lived  only  on  sufferance, 
under  which  he  was  deprived  of  the  same  rights  as 
his  fellows;  nevertheless,  even  in  early  ages  we  find 
Jews  occupying  high  governmental  positions.  Clias- 
dai  ben  Isaac  ibn  Shaprut,  sometimes  called  Hasdai 

[  135] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

ha-Nasi,  Spanish  physician  and  patron  of  sciences 
became  practically  the  vizier  of  Caliph  ’Abd  al-Rah- 
man,  as  he  arranged  all  foreign  alliances  and  received 
the  envoys  sent  by  the  Caliph  to  Cordova.  He  had 
control  of  the  customs  and  ship  dues  of  this  city, 
and  here  also  received  embassies  from  the  Byzantine 
Emperor,  Constantine  VIII.,  and  from  the  German 
Emperor,  Otho  I.  In  the  eleventh  century  Samuel  ibn 
Nagrela  was  for  thirty  years  the  virtual  ruler  of  the 
kingdom  of  Granada  under  the  monarch,  Habus,  in 
whose  palace  he  lived.  Under  the  Ali  in  Spain 
were  several  Jewish  ambassadors.  Amram  ibn  Shal- 
bib  represented  Alfonso  VI.  at  several  courts,  and 
Joseph  ben  Salamo  ibn  Shoshan  acted  in  a  similar  ca¬ 
pacity  for  Alfonso  VIII.  Benveniste  Halevi  \vas  privy 
councillor  and  treasurer  to  Alfonso  XI.,  and  many 
other  Jews  were  in  the  service  of  the  Spanish  kings 
as  ambassadors,  counsellors,  advisers,  and  representa¬ 
tives  of  different  kinds.  Pope  Alexander  III.  had  a 
Jew,  Jechei  ben  Abraham,  for  his  financial  adviser. 
In  Portugal,  as  in  Spain,  the  Jews  were  elevated  to 
very  important  ministerial  offices. 

In  modern  Germany  they  made  rapid  advancement 
in  politics.  Ferdinand  Lasalle,  the  darling  of  the 
German  working  classes,  jurist,  economist,  orator, 
philosopher  and  poet,  made  Socialism  a  force  in 

[13G] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

European  politics,  and  when  he  died  in  a  duel  in  1863 
at  the  age  of  thirty-eight,  Bismarck  and  he  were  con¬ 
sidered  the  two  foremost  men  of  the  Fatherland.  Ed¬ 
ward  Lasker,  another  idol  of  the  German  working 
people,  was  born  in  Prussian  Poland  in  1829.  He 
became  known  first  as  a  member  of  the  Prussian 
Chamber,  but  subsequently  entered  the  German  Im¬ 
perial  Parliament.  He  was  one  of  the  founders  of 
the  National  Liberal  Party,  although  he  sometimes 
voted  with  the  Progressive  Party.  For  a  long  time  he 
remained  the  acknowledged  leader  of  the  Reichstag. 
He  supported  Bismarck  until  the  latter’s  administra¬ 
tion  introduced  a  bill  which  aimed  to  limit  the  free¬ 
dom  of  speech  in  Parliament,  when  he  became  his 
avowed  antagonist. 

A  Jew,  J.  Manheimer,  was  elected  to  the  Presidency 
of  the  Prussian  Diet  in  1848.  In  the  same  year  the 
famous  Gabriel  Riesser  was  elected  Minister  of  State 
to  the  Prince  Protector  of  Germany,  John  of  Austria. 
Ludwdg  Bamberger,  Max  Hirsch,  Anton  Ree,  Ludwig 
Lowe,  Leopold  Sonneman,  Max  Kayser,  and  E.  Singer 
were  other  Jews  who  fearlessly  expressed  their 
opinions  in  the  German  Parliament. 

In  France  the  sons  of  Israel  began  to  distinguish 
themselves  in  politics  at  the  beginning  of  the  last 
century.  Cremieux,  to  whom  allusion  has  been  made, 

[  137  ] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 


became  a  member  of  the  Chamber  of  Deputies  in  1842 
and  encouraged  the  Revolution  of  ?48.  Under  the 
Provisional  Government  he  was  Minister  of  Justice. 
Out  of  his  private  funds  he  gave  one  hundred  thou¬ 
sand  francs  towards  the  payment  of  the  war  debt  to 
Germany. 

Achille  Fould  (1800-1867)  was  four  times 
Minister  of  Finance  under  the  Presidency  of  Louis 
Napoleon.  In  1852  he  was  made  Senator  and  Minister 
of  State  and  was  created  a  Commander  of  the  Legion 
of  Honour.  The  great  ultra  liberal,  Gambetta  (1838- 
1882),  was  of  Genoese- Jewish  descent.  David  Raynal 
of  Bordeaux  became  Senator,  Minister  of  Public 
Works,  and  Minister  of  the  Interior,  in  fact,  the  real 

ruler  of  the  country.  Jules  Simon  became  Minister 

•/ 

of  Education  under  Thiers  from  February,  1871,  to 
May,  1873.  Camille  See,  the  successful  champion  of 
female  education,  Alfred  Naquet,  friend  and  adviser 
of  General  Boulanger,  were  two  other  Jews  who  dis¬ 
tinguished  themselves  in  French  politics. 

Only  seventy  odd  years  have  elapsed  since  the  Jew 
began  to  have  any  rights  in  Italy  at  all,  yet  during 
that  time  he  has  made  his  voice  be  heard  in  the  coun¬ 
cils  of  the  nation.  Isaac  Pesaro  Maurogonato  be¬ 
came  “  an  athlete  in  Parliamentary  debate.”  He  was 
born  at  Venice  in  1817 ;  in  1848  he  became  postmaster 
general  of  that  city  and  in  1849  Minister  of  Finance 

[  138  ] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

and  Commerce.  In  1860,  when  Venice  became  a  part 
of  the  kingdom  of  Italy,  Maurogonato  was  elected  a 
deputy  to  Parliament.  D.  Manin  (1804-1857),  an¬ 
other  Jew,  was  one  of  the  foremost  of  Italian  patriots 
and  a  defender  of  Venice.  Italian  Jews  really  had  not 
equal  rights  until  Victor  Emanuel  II.  ascended  the 
throne.  The  brilliant  services  of  Luzzati  in  more  than 
one  Cabinet  of  recent  years  have  not  been  forgotten. 
Wollemborg,  among  other  offices  of  trust,  was  given 
that  of  Minister  of  Finance.  In  Italian  diplomatic 
service  the  Jews  have  highly  distinguished  themselves: 

Polacco,  Minister  Plenipotentiary  for  Italy  in  Bui- 

0 

garia ;  Artour,  Minister  to  Denmark ;  Count  Mi- 
nerbi,  Councillor  of  the  Italian  Embassy  in  London ; 
Artom,  whose  profound  genius  was  recognised  by 
Count  Cavour,  was  sent  again  and  again  on  delicate 
diplomatic  missions.  The  present  mayor  of  Rome 
is  a  Jew. 

In  England  the  children  of  Israel  suffered  under 
many  disabilities  until  the  beginning  of  the  last  cen¬ 
tury,  but  when  in  1829  the  Catholics  wrere  granted 
full  civil  and  religious  liberty,  Jewish  hopes  rose  high, 
that  they,  too,  would  obtain  a  similar  concession,  but 
although  a  bill  with  this  object  was  brought  into 
Parliament,  it  was  thrown  out  of  both  the  Commons 
and  the  Lords  time  after  time,  until  those  who  ad¬ 
vocated  its  passage,  became  “  sick  of  hopes  de- 

r  i39i 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

f erred.”  However,  in  1845  a  bill  was  carried  by 
which  the  Jews  were  enabled  to  hold  municipal  offices, 
and  in  the  following  year  the  Religious  Opinions 
Relief  Bill  removed  a  number  of  disabilities  affecting 
the  Jews  and  other  dissenters  from  the  Established 
Church.  By  the  clauses  of  this  bill  all  portals  may 
be  said  to  have  opened  to  the  Jews  except  entrance  to 
Parliament,  and  for  this  prerogative  the  men  of  the 
race  began  to  agitate.  They  determined  to  bring 
their  grievance  to  an  issue  at  once,  and  for  this 
purpose  Baron  Lionel  de  Rothschild  was  returned  to 
Parliament  from  the  City  of  London  in  1847,  and 
a  bill  was  introduced  to  carry  out  the  wishes  of  his 
constituency  by  having  him  take  his  seat,  but  this, 
although  it  passed  the  Commons  by  a  good  majority, 
was  rejected  by  the  Lords.  Rothschild  was  again 
elected  in  1850  and  the  very  same  thing  happened.  In 
the  following  year  David  Salomons,  who  had  success¬ 
fully  contested  the  Shrievalty  and  Aldermanic  hon¬ 
ours,  was  returned  member  from  Greenwich.  Salo¬ 
mons  insisted  on  defying  the  House  and  took  his  seat. 
The  Prime  Minister  himself  proposed  that  he  should 
withdraw,  whereupon  the  Jew  had  the  nerve  to  make 
a  speech  on  the  motion,  defending  his  principles,  but 
the  Premier’s  motion  was  carried  by  a  large  majority. 
Salomons,  burning  with  indignation  and  rage,  had 

[140] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

recourse  to  the  courts,  but  the  law  held  that  the  Jew 
had  no  right  to  vote  without  having  taken  the  oath  of 
abjuration,  and  he  was  mulcted  in  a  fine  £500 
($2500).  A  series  of  bills  was  again  introduced  with 
the  object  of  doing  away  with  the  clause  in  the  oath 
obnoxious  to  the  Jews,  but  all  were  rejected  until 
1858,  when  the  Oath  Bill  was  so  reformed  by  the 
Lords  that  all  objectionable  matter  was  eliminated. 
The  clause  relating  to  the  Jews  was  taken  out  alto¬ 
gether.  The  Commons  put  up  a  bitter  fight  over  the 
bill  as  sent  down  to  them  from  the  Upper  House,  but 
finally  a  compromise  was  reached  by  which  either 
House  might  admit  Jews  by  resolution  allowing  them 
to  omit  the  words,  44  on  the  true  faith  of  a  Christian.” 
Consequently,  on  July  26,  1858,  Baron  Lionel  de 
Rothschild  took  the  oath  with  covered  head,  substitut¬ 
ing  for  44  on  the  faith  of  a  Christian  ”  the  words  44  so 
help  me,  Jehovah,”  and  took  his  seat  as  the  first  Jew¬ 
ish  member  of  the  British  Parliament. 

Prior  to  the  Parliamentary  agitation  Jews  were 
allowed  to  hold  very  high  municipal  offices  in  Eng¬ 
land,  for  the  old-time  prejudices  had  been  dying  out 
for  some  time,  at  least  from  the  beginning  of  the  cen¬ 
tury  which  was  to  witness  their  emancipation  from 
most  of  the  disabilities  from  which  they  were  suffer¬ 
ing.  Many  circumstances  contributed  to  the  change 

[  141] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

of  feeling  towards  the  once  hated  and  despised  race, 
and  it  may  be  interesting  to  state  that  among  these 
was  the  prominence  a  few  Jews  created  for  them¬ 
selves  as  exponents  of  the  fistic  art  in  the  prize  ring. 
These  brought  to  the  sport  a  science  with  which  the 
English  up  to  then  had  been  unacquainted,  and  robbed 
it  of  the  brutal,  slugging  tactics  which  had  hitherto 
characterised  it.  Their  light  physique  made  it  incum¬ 
bent  for  the  Jewish  boxers  to  depend  more  on  skill 
than  strength,  hence  they  brought  boxing  to  a  high 
degree  of  perfection,  in  fact  made  it,  not  alone  a 
science,  but  a  fine  art.  In  1789  Daniel  Mendoza  de¬ 
feated  Humphries  the  title-holder  of  England  and 
became  chamipon  of  the  country,  far  out-classing  any 
and  all  comers.  Samuel  Elias,  known  as  “  Dutch  Sam,” 
knocked  out  the  best  men  of  his  day,  and  to  him  be¬ 
longs  the  fame  of  having  invented  the  celebrated 
“  upper  cut.”  It  was  Elias  that  first  made  boxing 
really  fashionable  among  the  upper  classes.  It  is  a 
remarkable  fact  that  a  race  of  people  who  are  of  a 
most  pacific  disposition  by  nature,  and  who  have 
meekly  submitted  to  the  yoke  of  the  tyrant  and  task¬ 
master  through  the  centuries,  should  produce  such  a 
great  number  of  prize-fighters.  In  America  to-day 
are  many  Jews  who  have  won  both  fame  (?)  and 
fortune  in  the  roped  arena. 

[  ] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

Another  circumstance  which  tended  to  alter  the 
English  attitude  towards  the  Jews  was  the  hope  en¬ 
tertained  that  numbers  of  them  could  be  brought 
over  to  swell  the  ranks  of  the  national  church,  but 
this  hope  has  never  been  realised,  for  though  many  of 
the  faith  may  have  outwardly  renounced  it,  they 
inwardly  clung  to  it.  Whenever  the  Jew  made  a 
change  in  his  religion  he  did  it  for  policy  and  policy 
alone.  The  Bernels,  the  Ricardos,  the  Lopezes,  the 
Samudas,  the  Bassevis,  the  Aguilars,  the  Herschels, 
the  Disraelis  allowed  their  children  to  grow  up  in 
the  Established  Church,  so  that  they  might  get  an 
opening  into  the  professions  and  otherwise  advance 
themselves  in  life,  but  converts  (?)  such  as  these  were 
never  persona  grata  to  orthodox  Jews  or  to  Chris¬ 
tians  either,  for  the  one  class  despised  them  for  their 
defection,  the  other  for  the  blood  that  flowed  in  their 
veins,  though  let  it  be  said  that  the  English  did  not 
feel  the  same  contempt  for  those  who  clung  to  the 
faith  of  their  race  as  they  did  for  those  who  dis¬ 
carded  it  for  worldly  motives.  This  was  strikingly 
seen  in  the  case  of  Benjamin  Disraeli,  afterwards 
Lord  Beaconsfield.  Through  all  his  life  he  was  made 
an  object  for  taunts  and  sneers,  and  the  butt  of  jokes 
and  repartee.  Daniel  O’Connell  once  said  he  could 
trace  Disraeli’s  ancestry  back  to  the  impenitent  thief 

[  143  ]  . 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 


that  was  crucified  beside  Christ  on  Calvary,  and  Con¬ 
servative  though  Beaconsfield  was,  he  never  was  the 
favourite  with  the  British  Queen  that  Gladstone  made 
himself.  Victoria  hated  Gladstone’s  politics,  but  she 
loved  and  admired  the  man  for  his  greatness  of  head 
and  heart,  while  she  despised  Disraeli,  or  rather  Bea¬ 
consfield,  though  he  was  the  exponent  of  her  own 
politics.  Though  his  great  talents  elevated  him 
to  the  highest  pinnacle,  both  in  politics  and  litera¬ 
ture,  he  never  was  a  popular  idol,  never  an  idol 
at  all. 

After  being  allowed  to  enter  Parliament  many  Jews 
rose  high  in  the  councils  of  the  nation.  In  the  first 
Ministry  of  Gladstone,  a  Jew,  Sir  George  Jessel, 
acted  as  Solicitor-General.  In  1885  Sir  Nathaniel  de 
Rothschild  came  to  the  ermine  and  wool-sack  as  Lord 
Rothschild.  The  next  Jew  to  get  a  similar  honour 
was  Baron  Henry  de  Worms,  who  became  Lord  Pir- 
bright.  July  19,  1895,  Mr.  Sydney  Stern  took  his 
seat  in  the  Upper  House  as  Lord  Wandsworth.  Mr. 
Stern  is  also  a  Portuguese  viscount  by  hereditary 
right. 

In  1890  all  restrictions  on  Jews  in  British  politics 
were  removed,  and  every  office  became  open  to  them 
except  those  of  monarch,  Lord  Chancellor,  and  Lord- 
Lieutenant  of  Ireland. 


[144] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 


Many  Jews  have  done  their  part  and  done  it  well 
to  entwine  the  laurel  around  the  political  brow  of 
England.  In  the  British  Parliament  such  men  as  Sir 
Francis  Goldschmidt,  Q.  C.,  Baron  Meyer  de  Roths¬ 
child,  Nathaniel  de  Rothschild,  Julian  Goldsmid,  Saul 
Isaac,  Arthur  Cohen,  Q.  C.,  Sydney  Woolf,  Baron 
Ferdinand  de  Rothschild,  Walter  Lionel  de  Roths¬ 
child,  and  many  others  of  the  old  faith  have  shed 
a  lustre  on  the  island  empire  by  lives  of  high  ideals, 
devotion,  and  patriotism. 

The  late  Lord  Herschell,  Chairman  of  the  Anglo- 
American  Joint  High  Commissioners  from  Great 
Britain,  twice  Lord  High  Chancellor  during  the 
Gladstone  ministries  and  former  Chancellor  of  the 
London  University,  whose  sudden  death  at  Washing¬ 
ton  a  few  years  ago  grieved  the  nations,  was  of  Jewish 
descent  and  not  ashamed  to  acknowledge  it. 

In  America  politics  came  as  natural  to  the  Jew  as 
swimming  to  a  duck.  The  first  Hebrew  member  of 
Congress  was  Israel  Jacobs,  sent  from  Pennsylvania 
in  1791.  Since  then  twenty-one  of  the  same  faith 
have  served  in  that  famous  law-house  of  the  nation, 
while  in  the  Senate  or  Upper  House,  the  first  Jew 
elected  was  Judah  P.  Benjamin,  who  has  been 
previously  noted. 

Other  Jewish  luminaries  have  arisen  above  the 

[145] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

horizon  of  American  politics,  whose  light  has  shed 
a  bright  effulgence  over  our  national  life  and  gained 
for  Judaism  a  conspicuous  place  in  the  political  life 
of  our  country.  In  this  connection  it  may  be  well  to 
state  that  Oscar  S.  Straus,  a  Jew,  has  become  a 
prominent  member  of  President  Roosevelt’s  Cabinet. 
Mr.  Straus  also  served  under  Cleveland  and  McKinley 
as  Minister  to  Turkey.  He  is  a  statesman,  scholar, 
diplomat,  who  does  honour  to  the  country  he  serves 
and  reflects  lustre  on  the  ancient  race  to  whose  faith 
and  principles  he  proudly  acknowledges  allegiance. 

JEWS  AS  POETS 

In  all  departments  of  literature  call  the  bead-roll 
of  fame  and  a  million  Jews  will  answer  from  their 
graves  in  almost  every  land  beneath  the  sun.  In  the 
sun-kissed  fields  of  poesy  they  have  swept  the  chords 
of  Apollo’s  lyre,  invoking  strains  whose  magic  music 
thrills  the  souls  of  men.  From  royal  David,  who 
wrote  the  Psalms,  which  lay  bare  the  workings  of 
heart  and  brain,  and  which  have  been  lisped  by  the 
lips  of  the  learned  and  unlearned  for  more  than  three 
thousand  years,  down  to  Aba  K.  Schapira,  who  makes 
his  poetry  “  a  fiery  pyramid  of  song,  leading  Israel’s 
caravan  of  affliction  in  the  wilderness,”  the  Jews  have 
been  a  music-loving,  poetry-breathing  race,  and 

[146] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

throughout  almost  all  their  poetry  we  find  a  deep 
reverence  for  God  and  a  holy  love  for  Zion. 

We  may  say  that  the  earliest  Jewish  literature  took 
the  form  of  poetry.  The  poetic  narrative  of  the 
battle  of  the  Israelites  with  the  Canaanites  called 
“  The  Song  of  Deborah  ”  is  a  much  older  account  of 
that  battle  than  the  prose,  and  we  may  conclude  that 
many  of  the  great  events  in  Israclitish  history  were 
chronicled  in  verse.  Indeed  many  go  so  far  as  to  sa}?1 
that  the  whole  of  the  Old  Testament  may  be  classed 
as  poetry,  and  this  is  partially  true,  but  apart  from 
the  Bible,  the  major  portion  of  all  the  early  Hebraic 
poetry  was  halakic.  The  didactic  poem  also  came  into 
vogue  at  an  early  time.  The  lyric  poetry,  as  expres¬ 
sive  of  the  personal  feelings  and  emotions  of  the 
individual,  was  also  strongly  devotional,  and  no  form 
of  it  was  neglected — ode,  sonnet,  elegy,  or  song. 

Secular  poetry  dates  from  the  ninth  century.  The 
earliest  piece  of  secular  lyric  poetry  written  by  a 
Jew  is  a  wine-song  ascribed  to  Solomon  ibn  Gabirol, 
and  was  composed  in  ridicule  of  a  niggardly  host, 
but  the  first  to  give  prominence  to  this  kind  of 
poetry  was  Moses  ibn  Ezra  (1070-1139),  who  wrote 
“  Tarshish,”  a  praise  of  wine  and  music,  friendship 
and  love,  but  who  was  not  such  a  poetic  genius  as  his 
famous  contemporary,  Jehudah  Halevi  (1086-1112), 

[  1«  ] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 


who  wrote  some  of  the  most  beautiful  secular  lyrics 
to  be  fouud  in  any  tongue.  His  forte  was  wedding 
songs  and  panegyrics,  but  he  produced  many  other 
great  metrical  compositions  which  have  come  down 
to  us  at  the  present  day.  Heine  says  of  Halevi: 

“  Ah !  he  was  the  greatest  poet, 

Torch  and  starlight  to  his  age, 

Beacon-light  to  his  people; 

Such  a  mighty  and  a  wondrous 

“  Pillar  of  poetic  fire, 

Led  the  caravan  of  sorrow 
Of  his  people,  Israel, 

Through  the  desert  of  their  exile. 

“  Pure  and  truthful,  fair  and  blameless 
Was  his  song,  and  thus  his  soul  was. 

When  the  Lord  that  soul  created. 

With  great  joy  His  work  beheld  He.” 

Hebrew  poetry  had  not  the  fiery  passion  which 
gives  it  tone  put  into  it  until  Immanuel  of  Rome  be¬ 
gan  to  write,  about  the  beginning  of  the  fourteenth 
century.  This  man  was  the  most  interesting  of  the 
Italian  Jews.  He  was  born  at  Rome,  1270,  and  came 
of  a  wealthy  family  and  was  well  versed  in  the  lore 
of  his  day,  but  he  especially  devoted  himself  to 
writing  verse.  He  acquired  the  easy,  flippant  tone 

[148] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

which  “  caught  ”  the  public  fancy,  so  that  his  poems 
and  songs  were  on  every  tongue.  He  satirised  both 
politics  and  religion,  excoriated  them  with  a  stinging, 
biting  lash,  under  which  they  writhed  in  agonies  of 
unavailing  rage.  To  the  warm  nature  of  the  Orient 
he  added  the  imagination  peculiar  to  those  who  dwell 
in  the  sunny  Italian  land,  and  both  combined  to  make 
a  hot,  passionate  poet.  He  died  at  Fermo,  1330.  The 
next  great  Jewish  lyric  poet  was  Moses  Najara,  who 
flourished  in  the  first  half  of  the  seventeenth  century. 
He  also  enthused  much  fire  and  spirit  into  his  verse, 
which,  however,  was  almost  purely  devotional  in  tone. 
He  is  reckoned  as  one  of  Israel’s  sweetest  singers. 

For  some  time  after  Najara,  lyric  poetry  was 
quiescent  among  the  Jews,  but  the  Muse  arose  again 
in  the  first  half  of  the  eighteenth  century,  when  many 
true  lyric  poets  turned  their  harps  to  dulcet  sounds, 
notable  among  them  being  Moses  Hayyim  Luzzatto, 
who  was  born  at  Padua  in  1707  and  was  a  man  of 
wide  range  of  learning.  At  an  early  age  he  began  to 
study  poetry,  and  soon  was  writing  epithalamia  and 
elegies,  one  of  which  was  a  dirge  on  the  death  of  his 
teacher.  At  the  age  of  seventeen  he  had  produced 
a  Biblical  drama,  and  before  he  was  twenty  he  com¬ 
menced  the  composition  of  one  hundred  and  fifty 
hymns  based  on  the  Biblical  Psalter.  He  then  essayed 

[149] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

a  large  work  which  he  called  “  Leshon  Limmudim,”  a 
discussion  of  Hebrew  style,  with  a  dissertation  on 
Hebraic  versification.  After  this  he  produced  a  four- 
act  play  founded  on  the  marriage  of  his  friend,  Israel 
Benjamin  Bassani,  in  which  he  introduced  Roman, 
Latin,  and  Biblical  characters.  It  was  a  masterly 
piece  of  work,  some  of  the  lyric  pieces  in  it  coming  up 
to  a  very  high  standard.  For  a  time  Luzzatto  gave 
up  poetry  and  devoted  all  his  time  to  mysticism.  He 
was  attracted  by  the  Cabala,  and  became  the  victim 
of  illusions,  imagining  that  he  conversed  with  the 
patriarchs  and  prophets.  In  fact,  he  developed  into 
what  we  now  would  call  a  Spiritualist,  and  his  de¬ 
lusions  became  so  intensified  that  he  finally  convinced 
himself  he  was  the  Messiah.  He  wrote  several  Caba¬ 
listic  works,  and  gathered  around  him  a  goodly  num¬ 
ber  of  followers  or  disciples.  A  ban  was  put  upon  him 
by  the  Rabbis,  and  he  had  to  leave  Italy  and  seek 
a  home  in  Amsterdam,  where  his  fame  had  preceded 
him  and  where  he  was  warmly  received  in  recognition 
of  his  great  mental  qualities,  despite  his  Cabalistic 
theories.  He  lived  in  Amsterdam  ten  years,  then  jour¬ 
neyed  to  Palestine,  where  with  his  wife  and  son  he 
died  of  the  plague  at  the  early  age  of  forty.  Luz- 
zato,  notwithstanding  his  Cabalism,  is  considered  by 
the  critics  one  of  the  brightest  intellects  Jewry  has 

[150] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

given  to  the  world.  Other  Italian  poets  of  the  Jewish 
faith  were  the  late  David  Levi,  philosopher  as  well 
as  poet ;  Deborah  Ascarelli,  who  flourished  at  the  be¬ 
ginning  of  the  seventeenth  century ;  and  Rahel  Mor- 
purgo,  who  was  born  in  1790,  and  lived  to  1871. 

In  Austria  rose  L.  A.  Frankl  (1810-1894),  Karl 
Beck  (1817-1879),  L.  Wihl  (1807-1882),  and  L. 
Kalisch  (1814-1882). 

In  France  there  was  Eugene  Manuel  (1803-1901), 
and  in  Denmark  Henry  Hertz  (1798-1870). 

Of  course  the  first  Jewish  poet  of  Germany  is  Hein¬ 
rich  Heine,  of  whom,  despite  his  frailties,  the  race 
feels  proud.  In  order  to  be  admitted  to  the  legal  pro¬ 
fession,  Heine  allowed  himself  to  be  baptised  into  the 
Protestant  Church,  June  28,  1825,  taking  the  name 
of  Christian  Johann  Heinrich  Heine,  but  he  never 
used  the  “  Christian  Johann,”  for  at  heart  he  was  a 
Jew  and  he  remained  a  Jew  in  every  thought  and 
instinct  and  leaning  until  the  day  his  frail  body  gave 
up  his  impassioned  soul  on  his  “  mattress-grave  ”  in 
Paris.  Poor  Heine!  like  many  another  great  man  he 
was  not  appreciated  when  living ;  his  talents  were  not 
recognised  either  by  Jews  or  Christians ;  nevertheless 
by  supreme  genius  and  indomitable  courage  in  the 
face  of  suffering,  he  placed  himself  next  to  the  giant 
Goethe  in  German  literature.  His  “  Buch  der  Lieder  ” 

[151] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

is  one  of  the  most  exquisite  volumes  ever  produced  by 
a  German  poet,  or  in  fact  by  a  poet  of  any  nation¬ 
ality.  On  his  deathbed  Heine  gave  recognition  and 
appreciation  of  the  creed  in  which  he  was  born,  and 
paid  many  splendid  tributes  to  Judaism,  one  of  these 
being  his  striking  picture  of  Jehudah  Halevi,  from 
which  an  excerpt  has  been  given.  Voicing  the  senti¬ 
ments  of  his  heart  a  short  time  before  he  passed  away, 
he  writes :  “.  .  .  I  have  learned  to  value  them  (the 
Jews)  better,  and  if  every  kind  of  pride  of  birth 
were  not  a  foolish  contradiction  in  a  champion  of 
revolution  and  democratic  principles,  the  writer  of 
these  pages  might  be  proud  that  his  ancestors  be¬ 
longed  to  the  noble  House  of  Israel;  that  he  is  a 
descendant  of  those  martyrs  who  have  given  to  the 
world  one  God  and  a  moral  law,  and  have  fought  and 
suffered  in  all  the  battlefields  of  thought.”  Heine  died 
in  Paris,  February  17,  1856 ;  the  German  government 
would  not  allow  a  memorial  to  be  erected  to  his 
memory  at  Diisseldorf,  his  native  place,  on  account 
of  his  anti-German  writings,  and  possibly,  and  the 
more  likely,  on  account  of  his  Jewish  origin,  but  the 
sons  of  the  Fatherland  in  exile,  to  their  credit  be  it 
told,  have  erected  a  splendid  monument  to  the  memory 
of  Heine  at  161st  Street  and  Mott  Avenue  in  the 
Bronx  Borough  of  New  York  City,  one  which  will 

[  152  ] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 


fittingly  commemorate  his  name  and  fame  in  free 
America.  Other  German  Jews  who  wooed  the  Muse 
of  Song  include  E.  M.  Kuh  (1828-1876),  whose 
tragic  fate  has  been  told  by  Auerbach  in  “  Dichter 
und  Kaufmann”;  Ludwig  Steinheim  (1790-1866), 
Sel  Heller  (“  Ahasver  ”)  (1831-1892),  Th.  Creize- 
nach  (1817-1877),  M.  Hartmann  (1821-1872),  S. 
H.  Mosenthal  (1821-1877),  Henriette  Ottenheimer 
(1807-1883),  M.  Sachs  (1808-1864),  and  Moritz 
Rapaport  (1808-1880). 

Among  the  poets  of  England  may  be  named  Man- 
uela  Nunes  da  Almeyda  (1720-?),  although  her  verses 
were  mostly  written  in  Spanish,  with  her  two  gifted 
daughters,  Benvenida  Cohen  Belmonte  and  Sara  de 
Foncesca  y  Pimentel,  authoresses  of  many  charming 
lyrics,  as  also  Isaac  Gompertz  (1774-1856), 
Emma  Henry  (1788-1870) ;  and  Moses  Mendez 
(P-1758). 

The  Jewish  writers  of  verse  in  America  include 
Emma  Lazarus  (1849-1887),  Peninah  Moise  (1797- 
1880),  and  Morris  Rosenfeld. 

The  best  Jewish  exponents  of  poetry  at  the  present 
time  are  the  Russians.  When  Wessely’s  “  Songs  of 
Glory  ”  appeared  their  great  success  tempted  young 
writers  to  essay  the  epic  and  soon  the  Russians 
eclipsed  the  Germans.  Abraham  Dob  Bar  Lebensohn 

[153] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

and  his  son,  Micah,  were  the  recognised  leaders  among 
the  former,  who  soon  outclassed  all  rivals  with  the 
possible  exception  of  Joseph  Almanzi  and  Samuel 
David  Luzzato  of  Italy,  and  Meier  Letteris  and 
Napthali  Ilerz  Imber  of  Galicia.  Judah  Lob  Gordon 
was  a  master  of  satire  and  almost  eclipsed  his  mas- 
ter,  Lebensohn,  just  mentioned.  Schapira,  to  whom 
allusion  has  already  been  made,  Z.  H.  Manes,  M.  M. 
Dolitszky,  and  D.  Frischman  were  among  the  best 
known  lyrists  of  the  modern  school.  Of  living  poets, 
H.  N.  Bialik  and  A.  Libushitzky  are  forging  fast  to 
the  front. 

THE  DRAMA 

Of  Jewish  dramatists  in  early  times  the  number  is 
small  when  compared  with  those  in  other  departments 
of  literature.  Indeed  it  may  be  said  that  the  Jewish 
drama  has  never  been  much  of  a  success,  and  doubt¬ 
less  this  is  due  to  the  fact  that  from  an  early  period 
the  people  were  taught  to  look  upon  false  representa¬ 
tions  of  life,  as  seen  on  the  stage,  with  feelings  of 
resentment,  such  having  the  tendency  not  alone  to 
corrupt  the  young,  but  to  give  them  wholly  erroneous 
ideas  of  the  world,  and  this  notion  still  continued  to 
prevail  with  the  Israelites. 

The  Yiddish  dramas  are  in  most  cases  but  mere 
translations  from  other  languages ;  those  that  are 

[154] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

genuinely  Yiddish  in  language,  thought,  and  sub¬ 
stance  may  be  almost  counted  on  the  finger  tips. 
Jews  have  contributed,  however,  to  the  drama  from 
the  earliest  time  despite  the  prejudice  of  the  race 
towards  it.  One  hundred  and  fifty  years  before  the 
Christian  era  we  read  of  the  first  Jewish  dramatist, 
Ezekielos  (Ezekiel),  whose  play  “  The  Exodus  from 
Egypt,”  was  modelled  after  Euripides.  From  this 
time  onwards  until  the  adaptation  of  Biblical  subjects 
to  the  stage  by  the  Spaniards  in  the  tenth  century, 
very  little  is  heard  of  Hebraic  drama. 

Of  the  dramas  written  in  Hebrew,  the  oldest  is 
“  The  Eternal  Foundation,”  by  Moses  Zacuto  of  Am¬ 
sterdam,  composed  in  1642.  Its  foundation  is  Bibli¬ 
cal,  being  woven  around  the  legend  of  Abraham 
destroying  the  idols  of  his  father.  Samuel  Roman- 
elli  of  Mantua  in  1791  at  Berlin  wrote  an  allegorical 
melodrama  called  66  The  Voices  Cease,”  founded  on 
classical  mythology.  “  Esther,”  based  on  Racine’s 
drama,  was  published  by  Joseph  Haltern  in  1795.  In 
the  same  year  a  drama  in  two  parts  was  published 
at  Sklow  (Russia)  by  Hayyim  Abraham  b.  Aryeh,  the 
first  part — The  Weighing  of  Actions — treating  of 
the  sale  of  Joseph  by  his  brethren,  the  second  part — 
An  Open  Warning — dealing  with  the  discussion  of 
Joseph’s  brethren  with  the  magicians,  and  describes 

[  155] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

how  the  former  were  recognised  by  Joseph.  In  1806 
another  Biblical  drama  was  brought  out  by  Moses 
Neumann  in  Vienna,  entitled  “  The  Daughter  of 
Jephthah.”  “  Amal  and  Tirzah,”  an  allegorical 
drama  in  three  acts,  was  published  at  Rodeheim  in 
1812  by  Shalom  ha-Kohen,  who  had  already  written 
“  Naboth  of  Jezreel.” 

The  Jews  essayed  the  drama  at  an  early  date  in 
Spain.  The  first  original  drama  in  Spanish  litera¬ 
ture,  “  Celestina,”  is  attributed  to  a  Jew,  Rodrigo 
da  Costa.  Towards  the  end  of  the  seventeenth  cen¬ 
tury  the  Portuguese  language  usurped  the  place  of 
the  Spanish  among  the  Jews  and  we  immediately  hear 
of  a  Jewish  dramatist,  Antonio  Jose  da  Silva.  In  1763 
Joseph  pensa  de  la  Vega  wrote  a  Jewish  drama  en¬ 
titled  66  Asire  ha-Tikvah  ”  (The  Prisoners  of  Hope), 
although  but  a  boy  of  seventeen.  In  the  early  part  of 
the  eighteenth  century  Yiddish  drama  was  presented 
in  Germany,  Baerman  Limburg  producing  at  Frank- 
fort-on-the-Main  his  play,  “  Mekirat  Yosef  55  (sale  of 
Joseph).  There  are  many  other  Yiddish  dramatisa¬ 
tions  of  the  story  of  Joseph.  In  1820  Saphir  wrote 
a  farce  “  Der  Falsche  Kaschtan,”  criticising  Jewish 
communal  affairs.  Schertspierer  of  Vienna  wrote  the 
drama  “  Moses,”  which  was  staged  in  that  city  in 
1838.  The  Russian  Yiddish  drama  began  with  Aksen- 

[156] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

f eld’s  plays,  all  of  which  principally  were  a  glorifica¬ 
tion  of  “  Haskalah,”  or  the  progressive  movement. 

The  first  Jewish  dramatist  to  use  German  was  Bene¬ 
dict  David  Arnstein  of  Vienna.  He  was  succeeded  by 
L.  M.  Buschenthal.  Since  that  time  poets  of  the  Jew¬ 
ish  race  have  enriched  every  department  of  dramatic 
literature,  among  wThom  may  be  named  Mosenthal, 
Kalisch,  Jacobson,  Fulda,  and  Schlessinger. 

Ludovic  Halevy,  the  composer’s  nephew,  in  opera, 
comedy,  and  vaudeville,  next  to  D’Ennery,  another 
Jew,  was  the  most  prolific  of  French  dramatists. 
Abraham  Cremieux  and  Millaud  made  great  contri¬ 
butions  to  the  French  stage.  Von  Weilen  and  Burger 
are  two  of  the  chief  dramatists  in  Austria. 

Among  the  early  and  most  prominent  American 
dramatists  were  Mordecai  M.  Noah,  Samuel  B.  H. 
Judah,  Jonas  B.  Phillips,  and  H.  B.  Sommer.  Among 
the  most  successful  dramatists  to-day  are  Charles 
Klein,  Sydney  Rosenfeld,  Martha  Morton  and  David 
Belasco. 

Not  alone  as  playwrights,  but  as  actors,  the  Jews 
have  taken  a  prominent  part.  The  greatest  name 
among  French  actresses  is  Rachel  (1820-1858),  the 
daughter  of  a  Jewish  peddler,  and  her  only  rival  in 
European  fame  is  another  Jewess,  Sarah  Bernhardt. 
Adolph  Ritter  von  Sonnenthal  is  the  dramatic  idol  of 

[157] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

the  Austrian  capital,  and  one  of  the  greatest  inter¬ 
preters  of  the  drama.  John  Braham  (1774-1864), 
whose  dramatic  genius  was  equalled  by  his  peerless 
voice.  In  the  category  of  European  singers  we  find 
Jewish  nightingales  at  every  turn — Pauline  Lucca, 
Caroline  Gompertz  Bettelheim,  the  famous  Austrian 
Court  contralto,  are  just  a  few  out  of  the  many  in 
the  galaxy  of  song. 

Passing  on  to  Jewish  actors  and  actresses  on  the 
American  stage  we  find  such  a  numerous  and  goodly 
company  that  to  call  the  roll  would  be  an  invidious 
distinction.  The  introduction  of  opera  into  the  United 
States  was  due  largely  to  Jewish  instrumentality.  A 
few  Jews  practically  control  the  theatres  of  the 
country. 

THE  JEWS  IN  MUSIC 

The  stage  is  so  closely  connected  with  the  musical 
profession  that  the  one  naturally  follows  the  other. 
Music  was  early  cultivated  by  the  Israelites,  being 
contemporaneous  with  poetry,  for  the  poems  were 
nearly  always  sung  to  accompaniment,  and  also  from 
the  earliest  days  music  was  used  in  connection  with 
the  religious  rites.  All  festivals  were  celebrated  with 
song  and  psaltery,  victorious  leaders  were  welcomed 
back  with  rejoicing  pseans,  and  every  important  event 
was  celebrated  by  song  and  sound.  On  the  mountains 

[158] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

and  in  the  valleys,  when  attending  their  flocks,  the 
shepherds  would  while  away  the  tedious  hours  by  reed 
and  flute,  and  when  friend  met  friend  at  the  gates 
of  the  city,  one  would  evoke  a  welcome  to  the  other 
from  the  reeded  instruments  they  carried.  So  great 
was  the  estimation  in  which  singers  were  held  that 
they  were  allowed  to  wear  the  white  priestly  garb. 
Antiphonal  singing  was  a  feature  of  the  Temple 
service,  a  precentor  taking  up  one  strophe  in  a  high 
key,  the  rest  of  the  choir  singing  it  several  notes 
lower.  This  custom  still  prevails  in  the  Orient.  Syna- 
gogal  music  at  first  followed  as  closely  as  possible 
that  which  was  practised  in  the  Temple,  but  coming 
under  the  influence  of  tonal  surroundings  in  many 
lands,  it  has  gradualy  become  extended  into  the  vocal 
melody,  solo  or  choral,  in  which  modern  Jewry  now 
presents  the  traditional  services,  and  even  this  has 
been  subject  to  change  by  environment.  The  father  of 
modern  synagogal  composers  was  Solomon  de  Rossi, 
who  in  1622  published  at  Venice  his  “  Ha-Shirim 
Asher  li-Shelomoh,”  and  who  w'as  the  first  trained 
musician  who  laboured  for  the  regeneration  of  the 
songs  of  Zion.  There  were  many  other  Jewish  musi¬ 
cians  in  Italy  at  that  time  who  also  contributed  much 
to  perfect  and  beautify  the  music  of  the  sanctuary, 
but  it  was  not  until  the  early  part  of  the  last  century 

[159] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

that  the  real  renaissance  in  sacred  music  was  begun 
by  men  who  longed  to  awaken  the  sweet  strains  of  the 
old  harp  of  Israel.  To  Solomon  Sulzer  must  go  the 
honour  of  awaking  to  life  and  melody  the  slumbering 
music  of  Judah’s  fold.  He  was  the  acknowledged 
leader  of  all  the  Jewish  musicians  of  modern  days,  and 
though  he  has  passed,  he  is  still  looked  upon  as  the 
first  star  in  the  firmament  of  Jewish  psaltery.  This 
famous  cantor  and  composer  was  born  in  the  Austrian 
Tyrol  in  1804,  and  died  at  Vienna  in  1890.  The 
original  name  of  his  family  was  Loewy.  This  man 
gave  a  dignity  and  tone  to  ritual  music  which  it  never 
had  before  and  laid  down  the  canons  which  should 
govern  its  rendering.  His  methods  are  almost  uni¬ 
versally  observed  in  the  synagogue.  He  was  followed 
in  1843  by  H.  Goldberg  of  Brunswick,  who  attempted 
to  regulate  congregational  singing.  H.  Weintraub 
in  1859  restored  intonation  to  the  former  importance 
it  had,  before  giving  place  to  choral  development. 
Abraham  Baer  of  Gottingen  tried  to  unite  the  old 
intensity  with  the  modern  cultivated  taste,  and  in 
1878  brought  out  his  monumental  work  “  Ba’al  Tefil- 
lah,  oder  der  Praktische  Vorbeter,”  in  which  he  set 
forth  the  vocal  expression  of  the  whole  Jewish  liturgy. 
It  was  a  work  of  great  value,  but  despite  the  labours 
of  such  men,  very  many  synagogues  still  cling  to  the 

[160] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

old  traditions  and  still  keep  the  old  form  of  music  as 
was  rendered  in  the  Temple. 

In  the  world  of  secular  music  Israel  has  brought 
forth  many  geniuses,  such  as  Felix  Mendelssohn 
Bartholdy  (1809-1847) — the  Wunderhind  of  mod¬ 
ern  music — Jacques  Francois  Fromenthal  Halevy 
(1799-1862),  Giacomo  Meyerbeer  (1794-1863), 
Jacques  Offenbach  (1818-1882),  and  Karl  Goldmark 
(1830 - ). 

England  produced  J.  Moschelles  (1794-1870),  F. 

H.  Cowen  (1852 - ),  Sir  Julius  Benedict  (1805- 

1885),  Sir  M.  Costa  (1810-1878),  and  C.  K.  Sala- 
man  (1814-1901). 

Among  the  Swedes  J.  A.  Josephson  achieved  fame. 
Dr.  Leopold  Damrosch  was  one  of  the  great  musical 
conductors  of  modern  times,  whose  crowning  achieve¬ 
ment  was  his  successful  establishment  of  German 
opera  in  New  York. 

As  performers  Jews  stand  as  high  as  they  do  as 
composers.  Rubinstein,  Rosenthal,  and  Hofmann  will 
always  be  reckoned  among  the  world’s  best  pianists. 
Joseph  Joachim  has  never  been  equalled  as  an  artist. 
When  Wagner  produced  an  opera  to  show  the  Teu¬ 
tonic  superiority  over  the  Jews,  he  was  dumfounded 
when,  on  the  night  of  the  performance,  he  saw  all 
the  first  violins  in  the  hands  of  the  Jews. 

[161] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 


THE  JEWS  AND  THE  BIBLE 

To  return  to  literature,  justice  must  acknowledge 
that  the  world  owes  more  to  the  Jews  than  to  any 
other  race.  It  was  the  Jews  who  gave  us  the  Book 
of  books,  the  Rock  of  Ages,  upon  which  is  built  the 
foundations  of  all  wisdom,  that  treasure-house  from 
which  the  children  of  men  have  been  enriched,  that 
inexhaustible  fountain  from  which  the  wise  drink  deep 
draughts  of  knowledge  and  inspiration,  that  great 
physician  to  whom  all  the  afflicted  go  for  cure,  that 
minister  wTho  ever  solaces  the  sorrowful,  comforts  the 
comfortless  and  gives  hope  to  the  hopeless,  that  epit¬ 
ome  of  all  that  is  good  and  great  and  noble  and 
elevating  and  hopeful  in  the  world,  in  a  word,  that 
connecting  link  between  God  and  man, — the  bible. 
All  the  books  of  the  Bible,  both  Old  and  New  Testa¬ 
ments,  with  the  possible  exception  of  the  Book  of 
Job,  were  written  by  Jews.  And  who  can  tell  how 
much  the  poets,  philosophers,  sages,  and  thinkers 
owe  to  the  Bible?  Upon  the  Bible  has  been  upraised 
the  lofty  domes  of  thought,  whose  beacon  lights 
guide  the  world  and  save  it  from  destruction.  The 
Bible  gave  us  a  Dante,  a  Milton,  and  a  Shakespeare, 
and  millions  of  others  who  went  to  its  fountain  to 
seek  the  source  of  knowledge,  so  we  can  say  that  in- 

[162] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

directly  all  Christian  literature  owes  much  to  the 
Jews.  But  apart  from  the  Bible,  the  Jews  have  con¬ 
tributed  largely  to  the  knowledge  of  all  nations.  They 
have  left  us  priceless  heirlooms  that  wre  guard  vrith 
jealous  care. 

AS  PHILOSOPHERS 

As  philosophers  Jews  were  first  in  the  field.  Philo, 
the  Alexandrian  philosopher  of  the  first  century,  w’as 
a  man  of  encyclopaedic  knowledge,  versed  deeply  in 
the  arts  and  sciences.  He  wras  the  ornament  of  the 
Hellenic  literature  of  the  period.  The  highest  virtue, 
according  to  him,  contains  two  main  duties — the 
worship  of  God  and  love  and  justice  to  all  men.  The 
most  powerful  light  of  the  Middle  Ages  was  the  illus¬ 
trious  Maimonides  (1135-1204),  who  has  been  called 
“  the  Jewush  Aristotle.”  His  great  philosophical 
work,  “  The  Guide  for  the  Perplexed,”  has  been 
translated  time  and  again  into  all  European  lan¬ 
guages.  Maimonides  tried  to  reconcile  divine  with  hu¬ 
man  wisdom  as  manifested  by  Aristotle.  Levi  ben 
Gerson,  defender  of  Maimonides,  attracted  the  spe¬ 
cial  attention  of  Reuchlin  and  Kepler.  Chasdai  Cres¬ 
cas,  opponent  of  Maimonides,  whose  “  Light  of  God  ” 
appeared  in  1410,  was  the  first  to  combat  the  phil¬ 
osophy  of  Aristotle.  Solomon  Maimon  (1753-1800) 
was  another  remarkable  philosopher  that  Judaism 

[163] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

produced.  Though  his  metaphysical  powers  were  soon 
eclipsed  by  Fichte,  Hegel,  and  Schelling,  it  is  con¬ 
ceded  that  his  criticism  struck  at  the  root  of  the 
Kantian  system.  Maimon  was  also  one  of  the  earli¬ 
est  forerunners  of  symbolic  logic.  Spinoza  laid  the 
foundation  for  the  rationalistic  school  of  Germany 
in  their  interpretation  of  the  Bible.  Moses  Mendels¬ 
sohn  stood  in  the  foremost  ranks  of  modern  German 
classical  scholars.  He  was  looked  upon  as  the  great¬ 
est  sage  since  Socrates,  but  though  he  was  the  orna¬ 
ment  of  the  nation,  he  was  merely  tolerated  as  the 
“  shopman  ”  of  a  Berlin  co-religionist  merchant. 
Other  Jews  who  were  preeminent  in  philosophy  were 
H.  Steinthal  (1823-1899),  M.  Lazarus  (1824-1903), 
A.  Franck  (1809-1892).  Herman  Cohen  is  acknowl¬ 
edged  the  chief  authority  on  Kant. 

AS  PHILOLOGISTS 

Jews  excel  as  scholars  when  they  seriously  apply 
themselves,  consequently  we  find  many  eminent  philol¬ 
ogists  among  them.  Indeed  Jews  may  be  said  to  have 
been  the  founders  of  our  scientific  philology.  The 
philosophic  side  of  this  subject  is  dominated  by  the 
school  of  M.  Lazarus  and  H.  Steinthal,  above  men¬ 
tioned.  One  of  the  acknowledged  authorities  on  com¬ 
parative  etymology  was  Th.  Benfey  (1809-1882),  he 

[  164  ] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

being  to  Germany  what  Max  Muller  was  to  England. 

Michel  Breal  (1832 - )  is  regarded  as  the  best 

authority  in  France  on  both  mythology  and  phil¬ 
ology.  In  classic  philology  M.  Bernhardy  (1800- 
1875),  the  famous  historian  of  Greek  and  Roman 
literature,  Ludwig  Friedlander  (1821-?),  Jacob 
Bernays  (1831-1882),  W.  Freund  (1806-1891)  and 
Henri  Weil  (1818-?)  were  other  Jews,  looked  upon 
as  the  foremost  philologists  of  the  past  century,  who 
claimed  Germany  as  their  country. 

Modern  languages  are  easy  to  the  Jews ;  they  ac¬ 
quire  them  most  readily  and  become  masters  of  their 
grammar  and  rhetoric.  Among  the  European  poly¬ 
glots  may  be  enumerated  David  Kimhi  (1160-1235), 
the  French  Hebrew  scholar,  whose  exegetical  and 
linguistic  writings  are  still  considered  standard 
works;  A  L  David  (1811-1832),  born  in  London, 
was  a  famous  Orientalist,  who  at  the  age  of  fifteen 
began  the  preparation  of  a  Biblical  encyclopaedia.  He 
wrote  a  grammar  of  the  Turkish  language  and  dedi¬ 
cated  it  to  the  Sultan.  Cholera  cut  him  off  at  twenty- 
one  ;  Armin  Vambery,  who  occupied  the  chair  of 
Oriental  Languages  at  the  University  of  Buda  Pesth; 
Arsene  Darmesteter  (1846-1888),  the  French  philolo¬ 
gist,  and  his  brother,  James  (1849-1884),  the  great 
Orientalist  who  travelled  in  the  East,  making  himself 

[  165  ] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

familiar  with  the  customs,  manners,  and  traditions  of 
the  people,  as  well  as  proficient  in  their  various  dia¬ 
lects;  Daniel  Sanders  (1819-1897),  who  made  a  great 
reputation  among  Greeks  and  Germans ;  Ollendorf 
(1805-1865),  who  invented  a  method  for  teaching 

modern  languages ;  Jules  Oppert  (1825 - ),  who 

became  the  greatest  Assyriologist  after  Rawlinson 
and  A.  Geiger  (1810-1867) — were  all  Hebrews  of 
the  deepest  learning.  It  was  Jewish  Rabbis  that 
furnished  to  Martin  Luther  the  knowledge  of 
the  whole  Bible  in  the  original  text,  and  the  Jews, 
Abdallah  ibn  Salam  and  Mukchairik,  helped  Moham¬ 
med  to  draw  up  his  Koran. 

AS  HISTORIANS 

As  historians  the  Israelites  have  been  remarkable 
from  the  very  beginning  of  the  race,  as  is  well  evi¬ 
denced  by  the  productions  of  Bible  times  in  the  books 
from  Genesis  to  Kings,  but  even  before  the  Penta¬ 
teuch  there  must  have  been  annals  upon  which  to 
build.  During  the  time  of  the  Kings  there  was  an 
official  called  the  “  mazkir,”  who  chronicled  the  events 
of  each  reign,  and  besides  the  data  furnished  by  these 
there  was  a  series  of  accounts  given  by  the  seers  and 
prophets.  In  the  Hellenistic  period  writers  in  Greek 
translated  from  the  Hebrew.  Philo  of  Alexandria, 
already  mentioned,  wrote  an  account  in  five  books  of 

[166] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

the  persecutions  under  Caligula.  Of  all  the  early  his¬ 
torians  of  the  race,  the  most  prominent  was  Joseph, 
the  son  of  Matthias,  commonly  called  Josephus.  He 
wrote  “  Jewish  Antiquities  99  and  the  “  Jewish  Wars,” 
which  was  and  is  the  main  source  of  information  for 
the  fall  and  decline  of  the  Jewish  nation. 

For  a  long  time  after  their  dispersion  no  one  arose 
to  chronicle  the  wanderings  of  the  Jews,  so  that  we 
have  to  depend  much  on  tradition  for  a  knowledge  of 
the  doings  of  the  race  after  the  fall  of  Jerusalem. 

The  revival  of  Jewish  history  appears  in  southern 
Italy  in  the  tenth  century  in  the  “  Yosippon,”  de¬ 
scribing  the  period  of  the  Second  Temple.  Its  author 
is  supposed  to  have  been  Joseph  b.  Gorion.  A  series 
of  chronicles  was  begun  in  Spain  by  the  “  Sefer  ha- 
Kabbalah  ”  of  Abraham  ibn  David  of  Toledo  in 
1161,  and  continued  by  Abraham  ben  Solomon.  Abra¬ 
ham  Zacuto  in  1505  completed  a  work  which  he 
called  “  Sefer  Yuhasin,”  brought  down  to  that  year. 
Some  recent  books  published  by  the  German  Jewish 
Historical  Association  give  accounts  of  the  persecu¬ 
tion  of  Jews  in  the  Middle  Ages  written  by  Jews  with 
the  Crusades.  During  these  persecutions  and  long 
afterwards  the  attention  of  Europe  was  drawn  to  the 
anamolous  position  of  these  people,  with  the  result 
that  information  was  eagerly  sought  regarding  their 

[167] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

history,  hence  a  mass  of  material  was  collected  which 
has  served  moderns  in  good  stead.  The  Israelites 
themselves  became  the  most  eager  to  learn  everything 
concerning  their  race.  In  the  first  half  of  the  nine¬ 
teenth  century  Israel  Marcus  Jost,  a  German  Jew, 
attempted,  in  his  “  Gesch.  der  Israeliten,”  to  give  the 
political  history  of  the  Jewish  people,  and  followed 
this  up  with  another  work  66  Gesch.  des  Judenthums,” 
in  which  he  tried  to  trace  the  literal  and  spiritual  de¬ 
velopment  of  the  race.  After  Jost  came  Heinrich 
Graetz,  another  German  Jew,  who,  in  his  64  Gesch.  der 
Juden,”  devoted  himself  to  the  literary  and  religious 
growth  of  the  Israelitish  people. 

^The  year  1887  marks  an  epoch  in  the  study  of 
Jewish  history.  This  was  the  year  in  which  the  Jews 
came  together  for  the  purpose  of  studying  the  his¬ 
tory  of  their  own  people.  The  Anglo- Jewish  Histori¬ 
cal  Exhibition  was  the  first  attempt  to  bring  together 
historical  records.  Many  important  works  were  un¬ 
earthed  from  all  sources;  archives  were  searched 
through  Europe  and  the  whole  of  the  Old  World  as 
well  as  the  New,  and  much  material  was  secured.  A 
complete  bibliography  of  Anglo- Jewish  history  by 
Jacobs  and  Wolf,  the  only  one  of  its  kind  then,  was 
on  exhibition.  In  189&  the  American-Jewish  Histori¬ 
cal  Society  was  formed,  and  now  there  are  similar 

[  168  ] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

societies  throughout  all  Europe  to  those  in  New 
York  and  London,  and  a  great  quantity  of  historical 
data  has  been  collected.  Of  course,  apart  from  their 
own  history,  Jews  have  given  much  of  their  attention 
to  this  branch  of  literature. 

The  original  name  of  Neander  (1789-1850),  the 
greatest  historian  of  the  Christian  church,  was  David 
Mendel,  whose  father  was  a  Jewish  peddler.  Alfred 
Edersheim  (1825-1889),  whose  44  Life  of  Christ”  is 
the  best  ever  written,  defending  the  orthodox  dogma 
of  Jesus  against  the  attacks  of  Strauss,  was  a  Jew. 

AS  ANTIQUARIANS  AND  ECONOMISTS 

As  antiquarians  the  Jews  have  been  more  or  less 
known.  One  of  the  chief  authorities  on  ancient  epi¬ 
graphy  was  M.  A.  Levy  (1817-1872).  The  Reinach 
brothers  in  France  have  distinguished  themselves  in 
this  field.  In  America  Dr.  Cyrus  Adler  of  Smith¬ 
sonian  Institute  is  regarded  as  a  high  authority  on 
Oriental  history  and  archaeology.  Maurice  Bloomfield, 
of  Johns  Hopkins,  is  recognised  as  the  chief  living 
authority  on  the  Atharva  Veda. 

Among  the  Jews  may  be  found  economists  like 
Ricardo,  Marx,  and  Lassalle,  and  M.  de  Bloch,  the 
Russian  banker,  whose  book  on  the  cost  of  modern 
warfare  has  been  translated  into  all  European  lan- 

[169] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

guagcs,  and  is  believed  to  have  given  the  impetus  to 
the  Czar  for  the  convention  of  the  Peace  Conference 
at  The  Hague. 

From  the  ranks  of  Jewry  come  such  original 
thinkers  as  Cassare  Lombroso  and  Max  Nordau,  the 
apostles  of  the  theory  of  degeneracy,  whose  argu¬ 
ments  and  submitted  proofs  have  startled  the  world 
and  are  already  accepted  as  the  New  Gospel,  whose 
light  discloses  the  hidden  springs  of  crime. 

AS  NOVELISTS 

In  the  realm  of  lighter  literature  the  Jew  is  a 
familiar  figure.  Some  of  the  best  living  fiction  writers 
are  men  and  women  of  the  ancient  faith.  The  Jew  by 
nature  is  peculiarly  adapted  to  this  kind  of  writing. 
He  is  imaginative,  has  a  buoyant  temperament,  a 
dogged,  go-ahead  persistence  about  him  which  will 
recognise  no  obstacles.  While  few  really  great  works 
of  fiction  have  come  from  Jewish  pens,  the  majority 
of  the  work  along  this  line  is  far  from  mediocre. 
Berthold  Auerbach,  born  in  the  Black  Forest  in  1812, 
is  famed  for  his  thrilling  descriptions  of  German  vil¬ 
lage  life,  and  whose  stories  are  remarkable  for  both 
their  philosophical  reflection  and  poetic  feeling.  The 
works  of  L.  Kompert  (1822-1886),  and  A.  Bernstein 
(1812-1887),  the  first  novelist  to  popularise  science, 

[  170  ] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

are  so  well-known  that  comment  is  unnecessary.  But 
the  one  great  novelist,  the  man  who  rose  head  and 
shoulders  above  all  others,  was  Benjamin  Disraeli 
(Lord  Beaconsfield),  who  became  popularly  known  as 
“  the  Statesman-novelist.”  No  need  to  go  into  the 
many  works  of  brilliant  fiction  that  came  from  his 
facile  pen,  as  they  are  read  to  the  present  day  by  men 
and  women  of  all  classes  the  world  over.  “  Vivian 
Grey  ”  and  “  Coningsby 99  are  household  classics 
wherever  the  English  language  is  spoken.  In  our  day 
the  leading  and  most  representative  Semitic  novelist 
is  the  London  Jew,  Israel  Zangwill,  whose  stories  of 
Ghetto  life  command  wide  attention. 

ESSAYISTS 

A  more  serious  class  of  writers — the  essayists — 
next  claim  attention.  Some  of  the  greatest  masters 
of  prose  are  Jews.  Ludwig  Borne  (1786-1837),  the 
brave  warrior  in  the  literary  war  of  liberation,  may 
be  placed  at  the  head  of  the  class,  but  Gabrielle 
Reisser  (1806-1863)  deserves  companionship  with 
Borne.  Grace  Aguilar,  in  whose  soul  burned  the  sa-> 
cred  fires  of  the  prophets,  though  a  writer  of  a 
different  class,  may  be  mentioned  in  this  connec¬ 
tion. 

To  these  writers  we  may  add  literary  critics.  The 

[171] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

chief  name  in  this  branch  among  the  living  is  George 
Brandes,  while  the  dead  are  represented  by  Isaac 
Disraeli,  father  of  Lord  Beaconsfield,  and  Michael 
Bernays  (1834-1897). 

From  belles-lettres  we  turn  to  the  Press,  and  in  this 
department  we  find  that  Jews  have  outdistanced  all 
other  competitors.  Anti-Semites  assert,  and  with 
truth,  that  the  Jews  own  and  control  many  of  the 
most  influential  daily  papers  in  Europe  and  America. 

PAINTING  AND  SCULPTURE 

Coming  to  the  world  of  painting  and  sculpture,  we 
may  say,  that  owing  to  the  strictures  that  were  put 
on  their  religion,  the  Jews  have  just  begun  to  achieve 
distinction.  Joseph  Israels  is  famed  for  his  celebrated 
delineations  of  Dutch  fisher  life.  Solomon  J.  Solo¬ 
mon  stands  high  among  English  artists.  In  France 
the  brothers  Lehman,  Jacobs,  Levy,  Ulmann,  and 
Worms  have  made  indelible  marks  in  the  gallery  of 
Art.  In  Germany  Meyerheim  and  Schlessinger  made 
splendid  reputations  for  almost  faultless  work.  Among 
Americans  Henry  Mosler  and  Ben  Austrian  have  won 
honours  at  home  and  abroad ;  George  D.  M.  Peixotto 
is  another  Jew  who  reflects  credit  on  the  art  of 
America.  Max  Rosenthal  and  his  son  Albert  have 
become  known  to  fame  both  as  etchers  and  portrait 

[  172  ] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

painters.  Of  illustrators  in  America  none  is  better 
known  than  Louis  Loeb.  With  the  sculptors  we  find 
Antokolski,  greatest  artist  in  stone  of  all  Russians, 
while  the  carvings  of  Moses  J.  Ezekiel  have  been  ex¬ 
hibited  in  all  the  art  centres  of  Europe.  His  work 
44  Religious  Liberty,”  in  Fairmount  Park,  Philadel¬ 
phia,  was  the  first  public  monument  erected  by  Jews 
in  the  United  States. 

«  •  •  •  • 

We  are  conscious  that  in  this  narrative  of  the 
world’s  indebtedness  to  the  Jew  we  have  left  out  many 
deserving  names.  In  every  department  of  literature, 
science,  and  art,  in  every  field  of  human  endeavour,  in 
every  path  traversed  by  the  genius  of  man  we  could 
have  multiplied  names  indefinitely  and  yet  not  have 
exhausted  the  number  of  the  worthy.  Few  indeed 
know  the  relatively  great  and  glorious  part  taken  by 
the  Jews  in  the  civilisation  and  advancement  of 
mankind. 

Beaconsfield  when  taunted  in  the  House  of  Com¬ 
mons  for  his  Jewish  extraction,  exclaimed,  44 1  can 
well  afford  to  be  called  a  Jew,”  and  so  can  every  other 
one  of  the  race,  a  race  that  has  never  decayed,  a  race 
that  has  never  lost  its  love  or  its  hope,  a  race  that 
is  still  as  loyal  to  every  tradition,  still  as  strong  in 
faith,  still  as  pristine  in  vigour,  still  as  buoyant  and 

[  173  ] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

hopeful  as  in  the  days  when  the  Asiatic  had  but  left 
the  cradle  and  the  European  was  yet  unborn. 

When  an  impartial  historian  shall  write  the  won¬ 
derful  achievements  of  the  race  of  Israel,  famous 
names  shall  appear  on  every  page,  for  Zion  has  pro¬ 
duced  a  greater  number  of  great  men  than  any  other 
nation  of  whom  history  bears  record,  and  the  Jewish 
people  may  well  take  to  heart  Goethe’s  true  lines : 

Willst  Du  immer  writer  schweifen? 

Sieh,  das  Gute  liegt  so  nah. 


I 


MONEY  AND  THE  JEW 


One  beautiful  June  evening  in  Paris  I  strolled  with  a  friend 
into  a  caf6  on  the  Boulevard.  We  had  been  to  hear  “  Robert 
le  Diable  ”  at  the  French  Op6ra,  and  gaily  humming  and  gos¬ 
siping  we  sat  upon  the  broad  walk  that  was  still  thronged  on 
the  still  summer  night.  Presently  a  dark-haired  man  came 
quietly  along  and  seated  himself  at  a  table  near  by.  He  was 
alone  and  seemed  not  to  care  for  recognition.  He  was  simply 
dressed,  and  v,was  entirely  unnoticeable  except  for  the  strong 
Jewish  lines  in  his  intellectual  face.  My  companion  whispered, 
“  That  is  the  man  to  whom  we  owe  the  delight  of  this  evening; 
that  is  Meyerbeer.”  After  a  while  he  added  with  feeling, 
“  How  much  we  owe  to  the  J ews,  and  how  mean  Christen¬ 
dom  is.” 

It  was  remarkable  how  much  of  the  conspicuous  work  and 
influence  of  that  evening  was  due  to  the  genius  of  a  people 
whose  name  is  so  constantly  used  as  a  word  of  reproach.  A 
.  few  months  before,  Felix  Mendelssohn  had  been  buried  in 
Leipsic,  and  in  Berlin  I  had  heard  the  memorial  concert  of 
his  music  at  the  Sing-Akademie.  Rossini  was  still  living,  and 
Verdi  was  writing  operas,  but  Mendelssohn  and  Meyerbeer 
were  the  recognised  masters  of  music.  The  evening  before,  I 
had  seen  the  J ewish  Rachel  in  “  Phedre  ” — the  one  woman  who 
contests  the  laurel  with  Mrs.  Siddons,  and  who  was  then  the 
greatest  living  actress.  Beyond  the  channel,  Disraeli,  the 
child  of  Spanish  Jews,  was  just  about  to  kiss  hands  as  Chan¬ 
cellor  of  the  Exchequer,  and  to  become  the  political  leader  of 
the  British  Tories.  While  in  Paris  and  London  and  Frankfurt 
and  Vienna  the  great  masters  of  the  mainsprings  of  industrial 
activity,  the  capitalists,  who  held  peace  and  war  in  their  hands, 
and  by  whose  favour  kings  rule,  were  Jews.  The  philosophy, 
the  art,  the  industry,  the  politics  of  Christendom  were  full  of 
the  Jewish  genius,  the  gaiety  of  nations,  the  delight  of  schol- 
summer  night,  and  the  words  of  my  friend  are  still  as  shame- 
ars,  the  sceptres  of  princes,  the  movements  of  civilisation,  hung 
in  great  degree  upon  it.  It  is  as  true  to-day  as  in  that  long 
fully  true:  “How  mean  Christendom  is.” — George  William 
Curtis. 


V 


MONEY  AND  THE  JEW 

An  impression  has  sunk  deep  into  the  mind  of  the 
world  in  general  that  the  Jewish  people  are  possessed 
of  great  wealth,  and  that  a  Jew  is  seldom  if  ever  in 
poverty.  When  we  wish  to  convey  the  idea  that  an 
individual  is  of  high  financial  standing  in  the  com¬ 
munity,  we  shrug  our  shoulders  and  say,  “  Oh ;  he’s 
as  rich  as  a  Jew,”  thereby  meaning  that  he  has 
amassed  money  and  property  to  an  almost  unlimited 
extent.  In  fact,  we  make  the  word  “  Jew  ”  a  syno¬ 
nym  for  money,  whereas  it  is  very  often  the  antonym 
of  that  word.  Jews  are  just  the  same  as  other  people 
from  a  pecuniary  standpoint — there  are  rich  and 
poor  among  them,  prosperity  or  failure  depending 
upon  personality,  environment,  opportunity,  and  the 
many  other  causes  which  determine  social  position. 
If  a  man  is  industrious,  self-reliant,  frugal,  yet  hon¬ 
ourable  in  all  transactions,  it  will  follow  as  a  corol¬ 
lary,  that  he  will  come  to  be  a  power  in  his  community 
and  command  respect,  but  if,  on  the  contrary,  he  be 

[177] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

idle,  careless,  reckless,  and  untrustworthy,  it  does  not 
require  a  great  stretch  of  the  imagination  to  perceive 
the  goal  at  which  he  will  arrive.  Of  course  we  are 
speaking  generally.  Many  a  man  undeservingly  has 
riches  thrust  upon  him,  while,  on  the  other  hand,  there 
is  many  a  worthy  man  poor — the  victim  of  circum¬ 
stances,  for,  as  we  have  said,  environment  and  oppor¬ 
tunity  play  a  very  important  part  in  life.  The  Arabs 
have  a  word,  “  kismet,”  which  they  apply  to  the  de¬ 
terminative  forces  controlling  destiny.  The  transla¬ 
tion  of  this  word  in  our  language  is  simply  44  fate,” 
and  without  laying  ourselves  open  to  the  accusation 
of  being  called  fatalists ,  we  may  say  that  fate  seems 
to  be  responsible  in  very  many  cases  for  man’s  suc¬ 
cess  or  failure.  Environment  has  much  to  do  wit!} 
shaping  destiny : 

“  Full  many  a  gem  of  purest  ray  serene 
The  dark,  unfathomed  caves  of  ocean  bear; 

Full  many  a  flower  is  born  to  blush  unseen 
And  waste  its  sweetness  on  the  desert  air.” 

The  philosopher  is  often  hidden  in  the  ploughman, 
and  the  brain  of  a  Newton  or  a  Shakespeare  is  some¬ 
times  concealed  beneath  the  battered  hat  of  a  wayside 
tramp. 

A  man  born  and  reared  in  the  dark  Ghettos  of  the 

[  iw  ] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

great  cities — places  which  put  to  ridicule  the  saying, 
“As  rich  as  a  Jew,”  spots  where  the  sunlight  of  heaven 
seldom,  if  ever,  enter,  where  the  atmosphere  is  poi¬ 
sonous,  where  breathing  creatures  in  the  shape  of  hu¬ 
man  beings  herd  together,  not  like  cattle,  but  like  wild, 
terrified  animals  trying  to  escape  a  common  enemy, 
where  a  morsel  of  wholesome  food  never  tickles  the 
palate  of  gaunt  and  spectral  men  and  women — cannot 
very  well  be  expected  to  compete  in  the  race  of  life 
with  his  brother  to  whom  fate  has  given  a  golden 
start  on  a  congenial  track.  The  child  of  the  Ghetto 
is  handicapped  by  environment,  and  opportunity  de¬ 
nies  him  her  gifts,  hence  we  find  thousands,  yea,  tens 
of  thousands  even  of  Jews  in  the  great  hives  of  hu¬ 
manity  living  in  a  state  of  veritable  peonage  to  the 
awful  surroundings  that  confront  them.  Proportion¬ 
ately  there  are  by  far  more  poverty-stricken  Jews 
than  Christians,  and  just  as  in  the  case  of  the  latter 
division  of  mankind,  it  sometimes  happens  that  from 
the  ranks  of  the  very  poorest  and  most  oppressed  of 
the  children  of  Israel  come  men  who,  by  the  innate 
force  of  genius,  by  indomitable  perseverance,  by 
unconquerable  grit,  raise  themselves  to  positions  of 
prestige  and  power,  as  in  the  case  of  the  great  banker, 
Rothschild,  who  was  born  Mayer  Anselm  Bower,  of 
the  poorest  of  poor  Jewish  families  in  the  Ghetto 

[179] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

quarter  of  Frankfort  in  1743.  This  child  of  a  down¬ 
trodden  and  despised  race,  who  commenced  life  as  a 
money-lender  on  the  smallest  scale  under  the  “  Red 
Shield”  (Rothschild),  raised  himself  to  a  position  of 
the  highest  eminence,  founded  the  great  banking- 
house  which  bears  his  name,  and  left  a  reputation  that 
shall  never  fade  among  his  race. 

That  there  are  enormously  wealthy  Jews  in  the 
world,  we  all  know,  but  that  these  successful  members 
of  the  House  of  Israel  amassed  their  colossal 
fortunes  by  underhand  methods  to  which  Christians 
would  not  resort,  is  an  accusation  as  unjust  as  it  is 
untrue.  In  most  cases  the  Jew  makes  his  money  and 
increases  it  by  taking  care  of  it,  by  habits  of  thrift 
and  economy,  by  industry  and  frugality,  and  by  look¬ 
ing  forward  to  the  proverbial  “  rainy  day,”  whereas 
the  Gentile  too  often  is  indolent  and  careless,  never 
thinks  of  the  morrow,  labours  under  the  impression 
that  the  sun  wrill  always  be  shining,  and  so  lets  his 
opportunities  slip  through  his  fingers. 

It  has  been  laid  to  the  charge  of  the  Jew  that  he 
is  parsimonious  and  miserly,  that  he  would  sell  his 
soul  for  gold,  that  he  hoards  his  treasures  without 
benefiting  his  kind,  that  he  is  usurious,  and  that  he  is 
inexorable  in  his  dealings  in  all  money  matters.  That 
the  Israelite  keeps  a  firm  grip  on  his  purse  we  admit, 

[180] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

but  that  he  does  no  good  with  his  money  we  deny. 
Jews  have  been  among  the  greatest  benefactors  of  the 
human  race.  They  have  been  foremost  in  philan¬ 
thropy  and  charity  the  world  over ;  they  have  erected 
costly  buildings  for  the  glory  of  God  and  the  good 
of  man ;  they  have  endowed  institutions  of  learning ; 

i 

they  have  patronised  science  and  the  arts ;  they  have 
contributed  in  every  way  to  the  elevation  of  mankind, 
and  while  Christians  who  make  the  charge  of  parsi¬ 
mony  against  them  have  neglected  the  poor  and  left 
them  to  starve  and  die  of  hunger  by  the  roadside, 
the  Jews  have  ever  taken  care  of  their  own  brethren 
and  provided  for  their  wants.  When  old  Peter  Stuy- 
vesant  fought  to  keep  out  the  Jews  in  New  Amster¬ 
dam,  the  Dutch  East  India  Company  allowed  them  to 
enter  on  condition  that  they  would  not  become  a  bur¬ 
den,  that  they  would  provide  for  their  own  poor. 
This  they  have  nobly  done  to  the  last  letter  of  the  law. 
To-day  there  are  almost  800,000  Jews  in  New  York 
City,  and  there  are  only  twenty-six  pauper  Jews  in 
the  almshouse,  of  whom  the  majority  are  afflicted  with 
some  peculiar  defect  which  precludes  their  admission 
to  the  existing  Jewish  charitable  institutions.  Can  the 
race  not  feel  proud  of  such  a  record? 

Jews  do  no  good  with  their  money !  What  a  charge ! 
How  ridiculous !  How  absurd !  Why,  the  strongest 

[181] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

stones  in  the  world’s  foundations,  the  stones  upon 
which  rest  civilisation  and  progress  and  enlighten¬ 
ment,  have  been  laid  with  Jewish  money.  The  Jew 
spends  his  money,  but  he  does  not  spend  it  recklessly 
or  squander  it  on  unworthy  objects,  therefore  he  has 
got  the  reputation  of  being  close-fisted  and  miserly. 
There  was  a  time  when  he  was  compelled  to  be  close- 
fisted — the  compulsion  made  him  acquire  the  habit 
he  still  retains — a  time  when  he  was  hunted  from  post 
to  pillar,  driven  from  country  to  country,  banned, 
proscribed,  outlawed,  when,  if  he  had  money  to-day, 
to-morrow  he  might  have  none,  when  he  had  no  tenure 
in  the  land,  and  when  his  life  was  not  safe  from  the 
unreasonableness  of  bigotry  and  prejudice.  You,  who 
criticise  his  love  for  gold,  would  you  not  cling  to  it, 
too,  if  you  realised  it  was  your  only  hope ;  would  you, 
too,  not  count  your  pennies  and  hoard  them,  if  you 
knew  that  the  acquisition  of  more  depended  upon  the 
contingency  of  circumstances ;  would  you  not  look 
out  to-day,  lest  you  starve  to-morrow?  The  Jew  took 
care  of  his  money  when  he  got  it,  because  it  was  all 
he  had  to  take  care  of,  and  it  was  very  hard  for  him 
to  get  it,  too.  And  when  by  unremitting  effort  and 
toil  and  privation  and  self-denial  he  did  amass  a  con¬ 
siderable  sum,  can  you  blame  him  for  not  letting  it 
slip  through  his  hands  to  the  improvident  idlers  on 

[  182  ] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

easy  terms?  The  Jew  became  a  money-lender — why? 
Simply  because  there  were  but  few  others  who  had 
money  to  lend.  You  cannot  eat  your  cake  and  have 
it,  too.  The  Christians  ate  their  cakes,  so  they  had 
to  go  to  the  Jews  for  more.  Can  anyone  find  fault 
with  the  Jews  for  selling  their  cakes  (money)  to  the 
best  advantage  they  could?  Surely  not.  The  wise 
man  always  tries  to  make  a  good  bargain.  If  you  sell 
your  horse  or  cow,  or  house  or  lot,  you  try  to  do 
the  best  you  can — to  sell  to  the  best  possible  profit 
to  yourself,  and  just  because  the  Jews  tried  to  sell 
their  money  to  the  best  advantage  they  were  branded 
with  the  odious  epithet  of  usurers ,  and  so  the  term 
“  Jew  him  down  99  came  into  use  when  anyone  asked 
an  exorbitant  price  for  his  property  or  wares. 

The  Jew  was  no  more  of  an  usurer  than  his 
Christian  brother ;  in  fact,  not  as  much,  as  we  shall 
see  later.  To  apply  the  name  to  him  is  a  slander,  it 
is  more,  a  calumny,  yet  for  the  past  three  hundred 
years  he  has  been  branded  with  it  throughout  the 
English-speaking  world,  and  the  man  of  all  others 
most  accountable  for  this  aspersion  on  the  race  of 
Abraham  was  William  Shakespeare.  That  teeming, 
ever-fertile  brain  which  so  enriched  the  world  con¬ 
ceived  the  idea  of  portraying  a  Jew,  and  called  into 
existence  Shylock  and  placed  him  on  the  stage  of  life. 

[183] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 


In  the  time  of  Shakespeare  Jews  were  only  known 
in  England  by  hateful  traditions  handed  down  from 
the  time  they  were  expelled  from  that  country  in 
1290.  These  traditions  grew  in  intensity  of  feeling, 
until,  in  the  time  of  the  master  dramatist,  the  Jews 
came  to  be  regarded  by  the  English  as  children  of 
Belial,  anathematised  by  God;  therefore,  no  colours 
could  be  too  black  in  which  to  limn  the  hated  race. 
It  is  doubtful  if  ever  Shakespeare  saw  a  Jew,  yet  he 
dipped  his  pen  in  the  ink  of  national  prejudice  and 
painted  such  a  verbal  portrait  of  a  Jew  as  was  never 
seen  before,  and  doubtless  one  that  shall  endure  as 
long  as  the  English  language  is  used  as  a  means  for 
the  intercommunication  of  the  ideas  of  mankind.  It  is 
Shakespeare’s  “  Shylock  ”  beyond  question  that  still 
fans  the  fires  of  English  animosity  towards  the  race 
of  Zion.  The  genius  of  William  Shakespeare  was  so 
far-reaching,  so  all-embracing,  his  experience  so  vast, 
his  knowledge  so  profound,  that  his  writings  came  to 
be  looked  upon  as  an  oracle  which  could  not  utter 
falsehood;  therefore  his  pictures  came  to  be  regarded 
as  truthful  delineations  of  life,  and  “  Shylock  ”  was 
taken  as  the  ideal  representative  of  his  race,  but  we 
know  now,  in  the  light  of  history,  that 

“  False  was  the  Jew 
That  Shakespeare  drew,” 

[184] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 


for,  as  has  been  said,  the  probability  is  that  the  im¬ 
mortal  poet  never  saw  an  Israelite  in  his  life,  as  there 
is  good  ground  for  believing  that  a  Jew  did  not 
set  foot  on  English  soil  from  1290  to  1665,  which 
was  a  period  of  forty-nine  years  after  Shakespeare’s 
death.  Therefore,  the  dramatist  could  not  have  drawn 
his  character  from  experience.  It  is  thought  that  he 
took  his  plot  from  an  English  version  of  Giovanni 
Elorentino’s  “  II  Pecorone,”  written  about  1378,  but 
the  story  appeared  in  many  forms  from  very  early 
times.  The  case  of  the  creditor  exacting  his  pound 
of  flesh  is  very  old  indeed.  Some  trace  it  as  far  back 
as  the  ancient  Hindoo  mythology ;  others  to  a  short 
time  after  the  beginning  of  the  Christian  era.  In 
many  versions  the  creditor  who  exacts  the  awful 
liquidation  of  the  debt  is  not  a  Jew  at  all.  The  first 
in  which  a  Jew  is  introduced  as  the  creditor  is  the 
English,  “  Cursor  Mundi,”  written  about  the  begin¬ 
ning  of  the  fourteenth  century,  in  which  the  plot 
centres  around  the  finding  of  the  true  cross,  and 
where  Queen  Helena  forgives  a  Jew  for  cruelty  on 
the  condition  that  he  point  out  to  her  the  spot  of 
the  crucifixion. 

Though  Shakespeare  has  portrayed  Shylock  as 
a  man-monster,  and  one  at  total  variance  with  the 
Jewish  character,  we  are  constrained  to  say  that  the 

[185] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 


words  which  he  puts  into  the  mouth  of  the  old  Jew 
under  the  circumstances  and  in  view  of  such  deep 
provocation  would  be  natural  to  anyone,  Jew  or 
Christian ;  even  a  saint  might  be  tempted  to  use  them 
if  as  sorely  tried.  No  wonder  Shylock  is  vengeful;  he 
is  persecuted,  he  is  derided,  he  is  crowned  with  infamy, 
he  is  deprived  of  his  money,  and,  excelling  all  the 
other  abuses,  he  is  robbed  of  his  ancient  faith.  Who 
would  not  turn  against  such  oppression?  Despite  the 
awful  portrayal  of  Shylock  as  an  incarnated  fiend, 
Shakespeare  could  have  made  no  stronger  plea  for  the 
race  than  in  the  speech,  which  is  one  long,  pitiful  wail 
for  justice  from  the  oppression  of  centuries: 

“  Hath  not  a  Jew  eyes?  Hath  not  a  Jew  hands,  organs, 
dimensions,  senses,  affections,  passions?  fed  with  the  same 
food,  hurt  with  the  same  weapons,  subject  to  the  same  dis¬ 
eases,  healed  by  the  same  means,  warmed  and  cooled  by  the 
same  winter  and  summer,  as  a  Christian  is?  If  you  prick  us, 
do  we  not  bleed?  if  you  tickle  us,  do  we  not  laugh?  if  you 
poison  us,  do  we  not  die?  and  if  you  wrong  us,  shall  we  not 
revenge.  If  a  Christian  wrong  a  Jew,  what  should  his  suffer- 
in  that.  If  a  Jew  wrong  a  Christian,  what  is  his  humility? 
revenge;  if  a  Christian  wrong  a  Jew,  what  should  his  suffer¬ 
ance  be  by  Christian  example?  why,  revenge.  The  villainy 
you  teach  me  I  will  execute;  and  it  shall  go  hard,  but  I  will 
better  the  instruction.” 

Poor  Shylock !  we  pity  him  as  a  thing  of  flesh  and 

[  186  ] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

blood  though  but  the  pen-creation  of  Shakespeare. 
He  was  not  the  first,  nor  the  last  to  make  such  a  bar¬ 
gain.  Though  the  barter  of  human  flesh  for  gold 
seems  appalling  to  us,  yet  if  we  consider  we  shall  find 
that  every  day  just  as  rash  and  foolish  wagers  are 
made  without  a  thought  as  to  their  dreadful  import. 
How  often  do  we  hear  such  expressions  as,  “  I  bet  my 
head,”  “  I  bet  my  life,”  “  I  bet  my  bottom  dollar,” 
etc.,  wrhen  the  person  giving  utterance  to  them  has 
not  the  slightest  conception  of  their  relative  serious¬ 
ness.  It  appears  to  have  been  a  common  custom 
among  Italians  to  say,  “  Scometto  una  libra  di  care 
del  mio  corpo  ” ;  (I  wager  you  a  pound  of  flesh  from 
my  body,)  when  there  was  not  the  slightest  intention 
to  literally  forfeit  a  pound  of  flesh.  The  following 
may  be  interesting  as  showing  the  attitude  of  the 
Church  towards  this  reckless  kind  of  betting.  In  his 
life  of  Pope  Sixtus  V.  Gregorio  Letti,  the  biographer, 
tells  us  that  in  1587  Paul  Maria  Secchi,  a  merchant 
of  Rome,  gained  the  information  that  Sir  Francis 
Drake,  the  English  admiral,  had  conquered  San  Do¬ 
mingo.  He  communicated  this  piece  of  news  to  Sam¬ 
son  Cenado,  a  Jewish  merchant,  to  whom  it  appeared 
incredible,  and  he  said :  “  I  bet  a  pound  of  flesh  that 
it  is  untrue.”  “  And  I  lay  one  thousand  scudi  against 
it,”  replied  Secchi.  A  bond  was  drawn  up  to  that 

[187] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

effect;  after  a  few  days  news  arrived  of  Drake’s 
achievement,  and  the  Christian  insisted  on  the  fulfil¬ 
ment  of  the  bond.  In  vain  the  Jew  pleaded,  but 
Secchi  swore  that  nothing  could  satisfy  him  but  a 
pound  of  the  Jew’s  flesh.  In  his  extremity  the  Jew 
went  to  the  Governor,  who  promised  his  assistance, 
but  who,  in  the  meantime,  communicated  the  facts  of 
the  case  to  Pope  Sixtus.  The  Pope  was  exceedingly 
wrath,  and  condemned  both  to  the  galleys,  the  Jew 
for  making  such  a  wager,  the  Christian  for  accepting 
it.  They  released  themselves  from  imprisonment  by 
each  paying  a  fine  of  two  thousand  scudi  toward  the 
hospital  of  the  Sixtus  Bridge  which  the  Pope  was 
then  rebuilding. 

Usury  is  no  more  a  Jewish  than  it  is  a  Gentile 
characteristic.  As  we  have  said,  all  that  was  left  to 
the  Jew  was  his  money,  and  that  money  was  held 
under  the  precarious  conditions  dependent  upon  the 
caprice  of  tyrannical  rulers.  That  Jewish  usurers 
were  not  as  grinding  as  their  Christian  neighbours, 
who,  in  some  cases,  had  money  to  lend,  is  well  au¬ 
thenticated  by  the  historical  fact,  that  when  by  law 
it  was  forbidden  Jews  in  France  to  exact  usury,  the 
law  was  very  soon  repealed  in  response  to  the  people’s 
demands  and  the  nobles’  advice,  because  the  Chris¬ 
tian  usurers  to  whom  they  had  then  to  resort  were  so 

[188] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

exorbitant  in  their  demands  that  the  Jews  were  con¬ 
sidered  lenient  by  comparison.  Bernard  of  Clair- 
vaux,  writing  in  the  twelfth  century,  says  that  Chris¬ 
tian  usurers  were  much  worse  in  their  practice  than 
Jews. 

The  Jews  of  the  Middle  Ages,  who  were  the  sole 
possessors  of  the  wealth,  as  they  were  also  of  learn¬ 
ing,  were  always,  by  the  exigencies  of  the  savage  and 
rapacious  princes,  subjected  to  frightful  extortions. 

In  1210  the  detestable  King  John  withdrew  the 
privileges  accorded  the  Jews  and  their  families  who 
did  not  heed  his  command  to  pay  all  their  money  into 
his  exchequer.  In  the  year  of  1241  and  in  1243  the 
Christian  authorities  again  forced  the  Jews  to  sub¬ 
mit  to  extravagant  extortions.  These  extortions  were 
repeated  in  1250  and  once  more  in  1255.  When  the 
rapacious  Henry  III.  went  so  far  as  to  demand  the 
money  of  the  Jews — with  the  alternative  of  their 
being  all  hanged,  they  petitioned  the  brutal  monarch 
to  allow  them  to  depart,  but  the  bankrupt  king  bade 
them  stay,  and  as  he  needed  money  to  supply  his  son, 
Prince  Edward,  he  forced  the  Jews  to  remain  and 
robbed  them  as  his  financial  exigencies  required. 

Money-lenders  were  permitted  legally  to  accept  as 
high  as  forty-eight  per  cent,  on  loans,  in  some  cases 
fifty  per  cent.,  therefore  little  need  we  wonder,  when 

[  189] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 


we  remember  how  strong  the  love  of  gain  reigns  in 
our  own  hearts,  that  the  Jews  braved  the  prejudice, 
like  others  of  the  age,  and  remained  in  England  to 
benefit  by  the  high  profits  which  were  then  given  for 
the  use  of  money. 

When,  in  1290,  King  Edward  II.  could  extort  no 
more  gold  from  the  Jews,  he  banished  them  from 
England. 

The  Jews  became  usurers,  but  who  taught  them 
usury?  When  you  single  out  the  Shylocks  eager  for 
their  pounds  of  flesh,  with  their  palms  itching  for 
other  people’s  gold,  don’t  forget  to  line  up  the  Chris¬ 
tians  guilty  of  the  same  sin  and  count  heads.  Don’t 
merely  go  to  the  doors  of  the  synagogues  to  seek  the 
sleek  usurers  filing  in  to  return  thanks  for  their  suc¬ 
cess  at  cheating  and  chicanery,  but  go  to  the  Chris¬ 
tian  churches  as  well,  and  look  on  the  smug-faced 
hypocrites  beneath  the  pulpits,  who  think  that  one 
hour  on  one  day  of  the  week  given  to  the  service 
of  God  will  recompense  for  the  preceding  six  days 
spent  in  the  service  of  the  devil. 

Glance  over  the  world  to-day  and  see  if  you  can 
find  a  Jew  amassing  wealth  by  any  means  too  base  for 
a  Christian  to  adopt.  You  cannot  find  such  a  Jew. 
Look  again,  and  say  if  you  can  find  a  Jew  coining 
his  gold  from  the  blood  and  bone,  not  alone  of  help¬ 
less  men  and  women,  but  of  innocent  children  as  well, 

[190] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

driving  the  chariot  of  money-lust  over  the  crushed 
and  bruised  and  broken  bodies  of  thousands  of  his 
unfortunate  fellow-beings.  You  may  find  him,  but 
you  will  have  to  search  far  and  search  long,  but  you 
will  not  have  to  search  at  all  for  the  Gentiles  who, 
by  a  damnable  alchemy,  are  converting  human  lives 
into  the  gold  whose  touch  is  accursed,  who  are  throw¬ 
ing  youth  and  innocence  and  beauty  and  virtue  and 
all  that  is  good  in  manhood  and  noble  in  womanhood 
into  the  reeking  cauldrons  of  the  workshop  and  the 
mill,  the  factory  and  the  mine,  to  be  boiled  down  with 
the  scum  of  the  pit  into  a  grimy,  slimy,  blackened, 
stench-laden  mass  of  humanity  whose  presence  curses 
the  world  they  were  originally  intended  to  bless ;  you 
will  see  these  Christians  (?)  at  your  very  doors  rob¬ 
bing  the  poor  and  the  suffering  of  every  attribute 
'which  life  holds  dear,  stealing  the  bodies  and  destroy¬ 
ing  the  souls  of  little  children  to  sacrifice  them  on  the 
altar  of  Mammon  before  the  shrine  of  the  Moloch 
they  adore. 

Who  are  the  millionaire  vampires  of  the  American 
land  to-day,  wTho  are  sucking  the  blood  from  the 
veins  of  their  victims  to  the  last  drop  of  exhaustion, 
and  then  casting  their  emaciated,  wTorn,  done-out 
bodies  on  the  wayside  to  die  as  scurvy-infected  dogs 
in  the  gutters  of  misery  and  want ;  who  are  the  men 
who  compose  the  Trusts  that  drive  the  juggernaut 

[191] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

of  oppression  over  the  bowed  necks  of  a  helpless  and 
hopeless  people  and  pillage  them  of  every  right  after 
they  are  left  crushed  and  bleeding  in  the  tracks  of 
that  relentless  chariot ;  who  make  up  the  bloated  Cor¬ 
porations  that  prey  with  wolfish  ferocity  on  the  best 
interests  of  our  homes,  poisoning  with  pestiferous 
breath  all  that  they  are  unable  to  devour  ?  Answer ! 
Are  these  thieves  of  the  people’s  rights,  these  oppres¬ 
sors  of  the  poor,  these  moral  and  physical  tyrants 
who  keep  the  world  in  bondage  and  ignorance  for  the 
sake  of  their  own  aggrandisement, — Jews?  There  are 
Jews  among  them,  but  their  number  is  small.  There 
is  more  oppression  beneath  the  standard  of  the  Cross 
than  under  the  Star  of  Israel.  The  Jew  likes  gold, 
but  at  the  same  time  he  concedes  to  every  man  the 
right  to  live.  He  desires  to  be  well-off  himself  from 
a  wordly  standpoint,  but  he  is  seldom  envious  of  his 
neighbour’s  prosperity.  Though  he  has  seldom  if 
ever,  gotten  the  “  square  deal  ”  himself,  he  believes 
in  giving  it  to  others  and  takes  for  his  motto,  “  Live 
and  let  live.” 

In  finance,  he  is  a  creator  and  not  a  puller-down. 
Many  of  the  great  fortunes  which  have  been  made, 
notably  in  America,  have  been  made  by  wrecking  rail¬ 
roads  and  other  established  and  incorporated  indus¬ 
tries.  The  Jews,  with  comparatively  few  exceptions, 

[  192] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

made  their  money  as  manufacturers  and  merchants. 
Capital  and  Jew  are  not  synonymous  terms,  yet  the 
leading  spirits  of  the  antagonistic  forces — Capital 
and  Labour — are  Jews.  There  are  financiers,  like  the 
Rothschilds  and  the  Bischoffscheims,  and  there  are 
socialist  Jews  like  Marx  and  Singer.  The  capitalists 
cannot  curse  the  Jews,  and  the  socialists  cannot  dyna¬ 
mite  the  Jews  without  abandoning  their  very  leaders. 

Samuel  Gompers,  President  of  the  American 
Federation  of  Labour,  with  a  membership  estimated 
at  over  2,000,000,  the  largest  body  of  workingmen 
in  the  United  States,  possibly  in  the  world,  is  a  Jew. 

Six  hundred  thousand  Jews  living  in  Africa  and 
Asia  are  poor.  The  five  millions  who  live  in  the  East 
of  Europe  are  only  just  raised  above  pauperism, 
while  a  goodly  proportion  are  sunk  even  below  that 
level.  Among  the  nearly  five  millions  of  Russian  Jews, 
only  a  few  names,  like  Ginsburg,  Iseman,  Kronen- 
berg,  Posnanski,  Bregman,  Zuckerman,  the  Zabludow- 
skis,  Raffalovitch,  Poliakoff,  Ephrussi,  Brodski,  de 
Bloch  and  Rothstein  rise  above  the  general  level  of 
hard-working  poverty.  On  the  continent,  besides  the 
Rothschilds,  we  find  not  more  than  fifty  Jewish 
capitalists. 

In  America  the  Jew  does  not  stand  as  high  in 
finance  as  is  generally  supposed.  To-day  there  are 

[  193  ] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

perhaps  six  thousand  millionaires  in  the  United 
States,  and  of  these,  only  some  three  hundred  claim 
the  faith  of  Israel,  but  the  number  is  increasing.  The 
total  Hebraic  population  of  the  country  at  present  is 
almost  1,500,000,  or  about  one-sixtieth  of  the  whole, 
and  these  strike  the  gamut  of  every  trade,  craft,  pro¬ 
fession,  avocation  and  calling.  There  are  Jewish  cap¬ 
tains  of  industry  in  every  field  of  human  enterprise, 
from  brewing  to  pork-packing,  from  realty  to  dry- 
goods,  from  law  to  liquor,  from  money-changing  to 
clothing,  from  newspaper  publisher  to  manufacturer, 
from  cotton  to  tobacco,  from  grocer  to  miner,  and 
from  marketing  to  medicine. 

In  Greater  New  York  alone  there  are  more  than 
800,000  Jews,  making  the  metropolis  of  America  the 
greatest  Jewish  centre  in  the  world.  There  are  more 
members  of  the  Semitic  family  in  New  York  than  in 
all  the  German  Empire,  two  and  a  half  times  as  many 
as  in  Great  Britain,  seven  times  as  many  as  in  London, 
and  ten  times  as  many  as  in  France.  Yet  out  of  this 
enormous  number  there  are  not  more  than  one  hun¬ 
dred  millionaires,  while  there  are  more  than  fourteen 
hundred  so-called  Christian  millionaires,  which  very 
emphatically  shows  that  the  Jew  is  very  far  indeed 
from  being  the  monetary  power  in  New  York,  as  is 
popularly  supposed.  Indeed  there  are  hundreds  of 

[194] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

Jews  in  the  New  York  Ghetto  who  eke  out  their 
miserable  lives  in  the  direst,  most  abject  poverty  con¬ 
ceivable,  and  it  is  only  as  a  last  resort  that  any  of 
these  will  appeal  to  their  co-religionists  for  charity, 
though,  as  has  been  said,  the  Jews  take  care  of  their 
own  poor  well.  The  United  Hebrews’  Charity  Society 
of  New  York  collects  and  disburses  more  money  an¬ 
nually  for  the  Jewish  poor  than  any  other  similar 
institution  in  the  world.  During  the  last  fiscal  year 
almost  12,000  families  were  compelled  to  apply  to 
this  Society  for  assistance,  but  of  these  only  two  per 
cent,  were  born  in  the  United  States,  and  of  whom 
the  majority  were  of  the  first  generation.  Practically 
speaking  there  are  no  American-born  Jewish  poor. 
The  poverty  is  brought  from  Russia,  from  Roumania, 
from  Bulgaria,  and  the  other  South  Europe  countries, 
and  the  congestion  in  the  Ghetto  increases  it,  intensi¬ 
fies  it,  until  the  charity  of  the  race  has  to  come  to  the 
rescue.  ’Tis  a  remarkable  fact  that  the  poorer  the 
Jew  becomes,  he  clings  to  his  religion  the  more  ten¬ 
aciously.  Just  as  the  Irish  cherished  and  adhered  to 
their  religion  through  centuries  of  persecution  and 
poverty  and  famine,  the  Jews  have  held  aloft  the  torch 
of  the  faith  of  Zion,  which  shone  all  the  brighter  for 
the  persecutions  and  hardships  to  which  its  devoted 
children  wrere  being  subjected. 

[195] 


JEWISH  TRAITS  AND  PECULIARITIES 


I 


The  Jew  is  without  doubt  the  most  remarkable  man  of  this 
world — past  or  present.  Of  all  the  stories  of  the  sons  of  men, 
there  is  none  so  wild,  so  wonderful,  so  full  of  extreme  muta¬ 
tion,  so  replete  with  suffering  and  horror,  so  abounding  in 
extraordinary  providences,  so  overflowing  with  scenic  romance. 
There  is  no  man  who  approaches  him  in  the  extent  and  char¬ 
acter  of  the  influence  which  he  has  exercised  over  the  human 
family.  His  history  is  the  history  of  our  civilisation  and 
progress  in  this  world,  and  our  faith  and  hope  in  that  which  is 
to  come.  From  him  have  we  derived  the  form  and  pattern  of 
all  that  is  excellent  on  earth  or  in  heaven.  If,  as  DeQuincey 
says,  the  Roman  Emperors,  as  the  great  accountants  for  the 
happiness  of  more  men  and  men  more  cultivated  than  ever 
before  were  intrusted  to  the  motions  of  a  single  will,  had  a 
special,  singular,  and  mysterious  relation  to  the  secret  coun¬ 
cils  of  heaven — thrice  truly  may  it  be  said  of  the  Jew.  Pales¬ 
tine,  his  home,  was  the  central  chamber  of  God’s  administra¬ 
tion.  He  was  at  once  the  grand  usher  to  these  glorious  courts, 
the  repository  of  the  councils  of  the  Almighty,  and  the  envoy 
of  the  divine  mandates  to  the  consciences  of  men.  He  was  the 
priest  and  faith-giver  to  mankind,  and  as  such,  in  spite  of  the 
jibe  and  jeer,  he  must  ever  be  considered  as  occupying  a 
peculiar  and  sacred  relation  to  all  other  peoples  of  this  world. 
Even  now,  though  the  Jews  have  long  since  ceased  to  exist  as 
a  consolidated  nation  inhabiting  a  common  country,  and  for 
eighteen  hundred  years  have  been  scattered  far  and  near  over 
the  wide  earth,  their  strange  customs,  their  distinct  features, 
personal  peculiarities,  and  their  scattered  unity  make  them  still 
a  wonder  and  an  astonishment. — Zebulon  B.  Vance. 


VI 

JEWISH  TRAITS  AND  PECULIARITIES 

A  Jew  is  a  Jew  the  world  over ;  there  is  an  indefinable 
something  about  him  which  differentiates  him  from 
the  representative  of  any  other  nationality.  You  can¬ 
not  fail  to  know  him  in  a  crowd,  that  is,  if  you  are 
gifted  with  any  power  of  intuition,  have  any  faculty 
of  perception  or  any  bent  towards  discrimination. 
You  may  mistake  a  German  for  a  Swrede,  you  may 
mix  up  an  Irishman  with  a  Spaniard,  or  you  may 
sw^ap  a  Greek  for  an  Italian,  but  you  will  never,  if 
you  know  anything  about  human  characteristics  at 
all,  confound  a  Jew  writh  any  other  people  but  his 
own.  The  Israelite,  no  matter  where  he  goes,  is  hall¬ 
marked,  warranted,  and  patented,  with  all  rights 
reserved;  therefore,  he  who  w^ould  encroach  on  these 
rights  by  personation  wrould  be  sure  to  be  quickly 
found  out.  This  is  why  Christian  actors  score  failure 
in  nearly  all  cases  when  they  essay  the  role  of  a  Jew 
on  the  stage.  ’Tis  only  a  Jewr  can  successfully  per- 

[  199  ] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

sonate  and  mimic  his  brother  Jew  and  44  take  off  99  his 
character  and  manner.  Even  the  great  Sir  Henry 
Irving  himself,  inimitable  actor  that  he  was,  to  a 
great  extent  failed  in  his  portrayal  of  Shy  lock.  He 
simply  gave  a  personality  to  Shakespeare’s  creation 
and  declaimed  Shakespeare’s  words  with  high  elocu¬ 
tionary  power,  but  despite  make-up  and  rare  simula¬ 
tion,  it  was  plain  to  be  seen  that  it  was  an  English¬ 
man  who  trod  the  stage  and  not  a  Jew.  A  jackdaw 
once  borrowed  a  peacock’s  feathers  and  tried  to 
strut  around  in  imitation  of  the  beautiful  bird  he 
envied  so  much,  but  although  he  had  the  feathers 
he  could  not  erect  them  into  the  fantail  which  all  so 
admire  on  the  peacock;  therefore  they  were  useless 
to  him,  and  he  became  the  butt  of  ridicule  among  his 
feathered  friends.  This  fable  strikingly  illustrates 
the  folly  of  the  Christian  in  trying  to  personify  the 
Jew.  He  simply  cannot  do  it.  He  may  steal  the  Jew’s 
outward  semblance,  but  that  does  not  constitute  him 
a  Jew.  The  ass  can  parade  in  the  lion’s  skin;  never¬ 
theless  he  is  not  a  lion,  he  is  still  an  ass. 

Though  the  Hebrew  people  have  the  same  feelings, 
the  same  passions,  the  same  emotions,  the  same  hopes, 
the  same  yearnings,  ambitions,  and  aspirations  as  the 
rest  of  the  world,  and  are  subject  to  heat  and  cold, 
hunger  and  thirst,  and  heirs  to  the  common  ills  of 

[  200  ] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

humanity  the  same  as  everybody  else,  they,  neverthe¬ 
less,  stand  out  solitary,  alone  from  every  other  branch 
of  the  human  family.  For  four  thousand  years  they 
have  kept  by  themselves,  forming  a  distinct  race  that 
has  never  amalgamated  itself  with  other  races,  a 
stream  that  has  never  mingled  its  waters  with  the 
waters  of  others,  but  has  flowed  on  by  itself  in  the  vast 
ocean  of  humanity,  in  it  but  never  one  with  it. 

Apart  from  their  distinctiveness  as  a  people,  the 
Jews  have  traits  and  characteristics  peculiar  to  them¬ 
selves,  just  as  other  nationalities  have.  For  instance, 
the  German  or  Teutonic  people  are  of  a  rather  slow, 
phlegmatic  temperament  and  plodding  nature,  look¬ 
ing  upon  the  serious  side  of  life  and  never  rashly  un¬ 
dertaking  any  important  work  without  giving  such 
deep  consideration ;  whereas  the  Gallic  races,  of  whom 
the  Irish  are  the  best  representatives,  are  of  sunny 
temperament,  cheerful  disposition,  always  look  on  the 
bright  side  of  things,  unhesitatingly  undertake  the 
most  serious  tasks,  laugh  at  their  own  blunders,  and 
when  they  fail  begin  again  with  as  light  hearts  and 
high  hopes  as  on  the  first  occasion.  Prometheus  is 
the  god  of  the  former,  Epimetheus  the  deity  of  the 
latter. 

Probably  the  one  characteristic  which  most  dis¬ 
tinguishes  the  Jews  is  the  strong  bond  which  unites 

[201] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

them  and  keeps  them  the  distinctive  whole  of  which 
we  have  spoken.  Jews  band  together  in  poverty  and 
misfortune  as  well  as  in  wealth  and  prosperity,  and  a 
rich  Jew  seldom  looks  down  with  contempt  on  a  poor 
co-religionist,  but  takes  him  by  the  hand  and  regards 
him  in  every  way  as  a  brother  and  an  equal.  This 
feature  widely  differentiates  this  people  from  the 
Christians. 

There  is  no  affectation  of  “  blue  blood  ”  among 
the  Jews,  and  yet  they  have  a  pedigree  worth  while, 
for  when  the  ancestors  of  European  kings  and  nobles 
were  revelling  in  coarseness  or  ignorantly  bending 
their  backs  to  the  commands  of  their  superiors,  the 
Jews  were  the  torch-bearers  of  the  world.  What  are 
your  Sons  and  Daughters  of  the  Revolution  compared 
to  the  Levys,  sons  of  the  Levites,  and  the  numerous 
Cahens,  Cohens,  Kohns,  and  Coehns,  whose  undis¬ 
puted  ancestors  were  the  Cohanim,  priests  of  the 
synagogue,  who  burned  incense  before  Jehovah  pre¬ 
paratory  to  going  in  the  shade  of  Babel  to  discuss 
the  origin  of  the  world  with  the  Augurs  of  Chaldea 
and  the  Magi  of  Iran  ? 

At  a  dinner  party  two  or  three  men  got  into  a 
somewhat  tiresome  talk  about  the  antiquity  of  their 
families,  when  Benjamin  Disraeli,  turning  to  a 
friend,  said:  “Think  of  these  fellows  talking  about 

[  202  ] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 


the  antiquity  of  their  families  to  me — to  me,  whose 
ancestor  was  the  accepted  lover  of  the  Queen  of 
Sheba !  ” 

It  is  related  that  when  Sir  Moses  Montefiore  was 
taunted  by  a  political  opponent  with  the  memory  of 
Calvary,  and  described  as  one  who  sprang  from  the 
murderers  who  crucified  Christ,  the  next  morning  the 
Jewish  philanthropist,  whom  the  Christian  world  has 
learned  to  honour,  called  upon  his  assailant  and 
showed  him  the  record  of  his  ancestors  which  had  been 
kept  for  two  thousand  years,  and  which  showed  that 
their  home  had  been  in  Spain  two  hundred  years 
before  Jesus  of  Nazareth  was  born. 

We  here  repeat  that  Jews  seldom  look  down  upon 
their  own.  How  different  it  is  with  professing  Chris¬ 
tians  who  propose  to  teach  the  world  its  duty  to  God, 
and  profess  the  brotherhood  of  man.  Why  these 
Christians  not  only  consider  poverty  a  crime,  but 
despise  and  trample  on  the  poor  man.  Churchianity 
pats  a  scoundrel  on  the  back,  if  he  has  money,  no 
matter  how  despicable  he  may  be,  and  among  Chris¬ 
tians,  as  among  Jews,  there  are  those  who  think  more 
of  the  man  with  bonds  in  his  pocket  than  of  the  man 
with  bonds  on  his  hands  and  feet.  If  a  man  has  money, 
it  matters  not  how  deficient  in  mind,  vulgar  in  person, 
and  ugly  in  features,  the  most  orthodox  churches 

[  203  ] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

swing  wide  their  gates  ajar,  and  the  portals  of  the 
most  select  (?)  society  open  for  him  to  enter,  while 
they  make  a  pariah  of  the  poor  man  and  clash  their 
doors  in  his  starving  face.  Not  so  with  Jewry.  When 
a  poor  Israelite  gets  down,  willing  hands  are  stretched 
from  the  Temple  of  Jacob  to  lift  him  up  and  put  him 
on  his  feet  again;  he  is  still  a  child  of  the  fold  of 
Judah,  and  as  such  must  be  cared  for;  if  he  is  so 
unfortunate  as  to  become  an  object  of  charity,  he 
finds  that  Charity  quickly  comes  to  his  aid,  not  with 
frowning  face,  but  with  smiling  countenance;  not  to 
expose  him  to  the  world  before  she  ministers  to  his 
wants,  but  to  throw  the  zegis  of  her  protection  over 
him,  that  others  may  not  see  him  until  he  is  able  to 
take  care  of  himself.  The  Jews  stick  by  one  another 
in  sunshine  and  in  shade,  and 

“  While  their  enemies  join  in  hate, 

They  always  join  in  love.” 

The  devotion  of  the  Jews  to  their  children  and  their 
ambition  for  their  future  welfare  are  distinguishing 
traits  which  do  the  race  honour.  The  Jew  is  prepared 
to  suffer  any  privation  and  hardship,  to  undergo  any 
labour  and  toil,  to  even  face  death  itself  for  the  sake 
of  his  boy,  in  order  to  secure  for  him  the  advantages 
which  will  enable  him  to  be  successful  in  the  battle 

[  204  ] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

of  life.  The  father  who  has  suffered  himself  will  make 
any  sacrifice  to  assure  his  son  from  undergoing  a  like 
ordeal.  This  self-denial  on  the  part  of  Jewish  parents 
is  well  illustrated  in  the  case  of  the  Russian  Jews  in 
New  York;  these  men  have  known  poverty  and  perse¬ 
cution  at  home,  and  when  a  free  country  opens  wide 
her  doors  to  let  them  pass  to  the  land  of  opportunity, 
they  are  not  slow  to  avail  themselves  of  every  means 
for  the  sake  of  their  children.  As  the  author  of  this 
book  was  writing  the  first  chapter,  a  Russian  Jewish 
peddler  came  to  his  door  in  a  suburb  of  New  York 
City;  the  peddler  offered  his  wares,  consisting  of 
remnants,  samples,  needles,  threads,  and  other  flot¬ 
sam  and  jetsam  of  the  clothier;  the  pack  was  almost 
as  big  as  himself.  On  being  questioned,  he  volunteered 
the  information  that  competition  and  hard  times  had 
driven  him  out  of  business  as  a  merchant  tailor,  but 
he  could  not  be  idle,  so  he  got  his  pack  on  his  back 
and  set  out  as  an  itinerant  merchant.  “  Though  I  am 
a  peddler,”  said  he  proudly  in  his  broken  English, 
here  corrected,  “  I  have  one  son  graduating  this 
month  (June)  from  the  High  School,  and  another 
one  in  Harvard  University.” 

Surely  this  Russian  refugee,  uncouth  in  appear¬ 
ance,  unlettered,  a  stranger  in  a  strange  land,  igno¬ 
rant  to  a  great  degree  of  its  manners  and  customs, 

[  205  ] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

should  be  an  exemplar  well  worth  copying  to  many 
American  parents. 

Read  the  names  published  annually  of  the  public 
school  children  who  pass  with  flying  colours  the  en¬ 
trance  examination  to  the  College  of  the  City  of  New 
York,  and  you  will  find  heading  the  lists  the  Cohens, 
Cosinskys,  Levys,  Greenbaums,  Sesmorskys,  Schapi- 
ros,  Fleishers,  Bernsteins,  Rosenbergs,  Goldsteins, 
Kopf steins,  Czarkowskys,  and  other  names  of  unmis¬ 
takable  Jewish  families  from  Germany  and  from  Rus¬ 
sia  and  very  few  names  of  children  of  American  de¬ 
scent.  The  same  is  true  of  other  American  cities. 
Fifty  per  cent,  of  the  students  in  Columbia  University 
are  Jews,  and  of  the  146  graduates  of  the  College  of 
the  City  of  New  York  last  year,  122,  or  83  per  cent., 
were  the  sons  of  Russian  refugees.  Surely  such  a 
record  should  make  the  Jews  feel  proud  and  pleased. 
It  goes  to  show  that  these  people  avail  themselves  of 
every  privilege  of  their  surroundings,  no  matter  where 
their  lot  may  be  cast,  and  they  look  upon  education  as 
the  best  of  all  privileges,  for  they  know  that  with  its 
assistance  they  can  overcome  obstacles  which  would  be 
otherwise  impossible,  and  attain  to  heights  which 
compel  the  respect  and  admiration  of  their  Christian 
brethren,  hence  their  eagerness  to  secure  it. 

As  has  been  shown  in  a  preceding  chapter  the  Jew 

[  206  ] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

can  distinguish  himself  in  the  world  of  intellect,  so 
if  Jewish  children  at  all  get  a  chance  they  prove  them¬ 
selves  apt  scholars,  in  a  short  time  out-distancing  the 
majority  of  their  Christian  competitors.  The  only 
way  to  prevent  Jewish  scholars  from  winning  most  of 
the  prizes  is  to  shut  them  out  of  the  competition. 

In  the  wake  of  educational  opportunities  follows 
the  social  propaganda ;  that  is  to  say,  the  younger 
element  of  the  Jewish  population  band  into  societies 
for  the  common  good  and  mutual  improvement.  Clubs 
and  debating-schools  spring  up  as  if  by  magic,  and 
nightly  the  youthful  Hebrews,  and  indeed  many  of 
the  older  ones,  meet  for  the  purpose  of  discussing 
questions  and  debating  problems  germane  to  them¬ 
selves  and  their  present  and  future  welfare.  Espe¬ 
cially  do  such  clubs  flourish  in  the  large  cities  of 
America,  and  nearly  all  Jewish  young  men  belong  to 
them,  though  of  course  there  are  some  who  have 
Americanised  in  the  wrong  way,  and  instead  of  at¬ 
tending  the  club  or  the  synagogue  for  either  mental 
or  moral  improvement,  prefer  the  corner  saloon  and 
the  nearest  pool-parlour. 

If  the  Jew  has  been  brought  up  in  a  really  Jewish 
atmosphere  and  taught  to  reverence  the  traditions  of 
his  race,  it  is  rarely  indeed  that  the  tempter  succeeds 
in  dragging  him  to  the  downward  path;  but  if  he 

[  207  ] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

springs  from  a  family  that  has  more  or  less  grown 
cold  in  the  old  faith,  he  is  very  liable  to  fall.  Years 
ago  it  was  very  seldom  you  would  see  Jewish  boys  and 
girls  on  the  streets  after  nightfall  unless  on  legiti¬ 
mate  business,  but  now  it  is  not  by  any  means  un¬ 
common  to  see  Hebrew  youths  of  both  sexes  on  the 
streets  at  all  hours,  in  the  concert-halls,  the  rathskel- 
lars,  the  speak-easies,  and  other  disreputable  re¬ 
sorts,  imitating  but  too  well  their  Gentile  exemplars 
and  following  in  their  footsteps  on  the  road  that 
leads  to  dishonour  and  disgrace.  You  will  now  find 
Isaac  and  Rebecca,  Jacob  and  Leah  in  dens  and  dives 
which  would  have  shocked  every  sensory  nerve  in  the 
being  of  Abraham  and  Sarah,  their  parents.  But  to 
the  credit  of  the  race  be  it  said  that  those  who  fall 
are  as  yet  comparatively  few,  and  wre  must  remember 
that  the  temptations  have  been  many  and  great. 

The  home  life  of  the  Jew  has  always  been  char¬ 
acterised  by  the  intense  devotion  of  its  inmates  to  one 
another,  but  here  again  the  modern  congestion  in 
our  large  cities  is  aiming  a  blow  at  its  sanctity. 
There  is  no  race  suicide  among  the  Jews,  but  on  the 
contrary,  there  is  generally  a  very  numerous  family, 
and  often  very  little  space  in  which  to  house  it.  Seven 
or  eight  cannot  live  very  comfortably  in  a  three-room 
apartment,  yet  in  such  an  apartment  it  is  not  unusual 

[  208  ] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

to  find  such  numbers,  even  more,  and  remember,  the 
Jews  are  a  social  people  who  like  to  visit  one  another, 
especially  on  feast  days  and  holidays  and  other  spe¬ 
cial  occasions,  such  as  when  the  boys  of  thirteen  are 
being  confirmed  in  the  faith  (bar  mitzvah),  or  when 
a  circumcision  (b’rith  milah)  takes  place.  On  these 
occasions  the  rooms  are  crowded  like  the  proverbial 
sardines  in  a  box;  where  are  the  young  people  to  go? 
What  are  they  to  do?  They  are  simply  crowded  out 
— out  into  the  street,  and  the  ethics  of  the  street  at 
all  times  are  poisonous  both  for  the  Jew  and  Gentile. 

It  is  owing  to  congestion  in  the  thickly  populated 
areas  that  the  Jewish  home  is  losing  its  influence  and 
that  Jewish  youth  are  imbibing  the  vices  so  peculiar 
to  our  boasted  civilisation.  One  of  these  vices,  and 
perhaps  the  worst,  is  the  drink  habit.  But  ten  years 
ago  it  was  an  anamoly  almost  in  nature  to  see  a 
drunken  Jew,  to-day  you  can  see  Jewish  loafers  hang¬ 
ing  around  the  saloons  and  groggeries  in  the  de¬ 
graded  quarters  of  the  great  cities  both  of  Europe 
and  America ;  but  let  it  be  said  that  these  are  pariahs 
who  have  lost  all  caste  and  been  cut  off  from  com¬ 
munion  of  their  brethren,  though  they  have  to  be 
recognised  as  Jews;  but  they  are  simply  warty  ex¬ 
crescences  on  the  racial  body,  and  just  as  on  the 
animal  body,  they  must  be  borne  until  they  fall  off 

[  209  ] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 


as  a  piece  of  lifeless  inertia.  The  normal  Jew,  the  • 
Jew  who  holds  dear  his  patrimony  as  one  of  the 
chosen  race,  never  drinks  to  excess,  and  it  is  to 
be  doubted  if  a  police  blotter  in  the  world  has  ever 
had  to  record  the  crime  of  public  drunkenness  against 
one  who  rigidly  adhered  to  the  faith  of  Abraham. 
Nevertheless,  the  Jew  drinks  and  drinks  much,  too, 
of  alcoholic  beverages.  Seldom,  if  ever,  you  will  find 
a  Jew  a  teetotaler.  In  fact  the  orthodox  Jew  looks 
upon  drinking  as  part  of  his  religion,  for  he  cele¬ 
brates  all  his  feasts  and  has  celebrated  them  from 
time  immemorial  with  the  wine-cup.  The  “  Rejoicing 
of  the  Law  ”  must  be  observed,  and  to  observe  it  well 
and  according  to  custom,  it  is  imperative,  thinks  the 
Jew,  to  look  upon  the  wine-cup  when  it  is  red.  The 
anniversary  of  the  hanging  of  Haman,  the  Miracle 
of  Lights,  the  Maccabean  Victories,  all  are  surely 
occasions  to  celebrate  with  hilarity  and  joy  in  the 
good  old-fashioned  style.  But  apart  from  the  festal 
occasions  and  historic  anniversaries,  there  are  other 
times  when  the  cup  that  cheers  circles  freely  around 
the  board,  such  as  the  events  already  mentioned — the 
bar  mitzvah  and  b’ritli  milah,  and  besides  these  there 
are  the  pidyon  ha  hen  (a  ceremony  relating  to  the 
first-born),  the  tnoyim  (engagement),  the  wedding, 
and  several  others  at  which  wine  and  often  wassail 

[210] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 


reign.  The  Jew  simply  drinks  when  he  feels  so  in¬ 
clined,  and  it  is  a  remarkable  fact,  physiologically, 
that  he  can  imbibe  a  much  greater  quantity  of  ardent 
spirits  without  showing  any  visible  or  external  effect 
than  can  his  Christian  brother. 

Though  we  see  hundreds  of  sickly-looking  Jews 
with  haggard,  drawn,  cadaverous  faces  and  emaciated 
bodies,  seemingl}r  in  the  relentless  grip  of  phthisis  or 
tuberculosis,  they  possess  a  vitality  much  stronger 
and  tougher  than  the  Gentiles,  and  this  may,  to  some 
extent,  be  owing  to  the  wandering  life  of  centuries 
which  has  inured  them  to  all  kinds  of  climatic  condi¬ 
tions  and  adapted  them  to  every  environment.  That 
they  are  a  much  longer-lived  race  than  any  other  is 
fully  borne  out  by  the  mortuary  statistics.  In  the 
early  times  they  were  remarkable  for  longevity.  Most 
of  the  old  prophets  and  patriarchs  passed  the  century 
mile-stone,  some  of  them  reaching  a  much  greater  age, 
though,  despite  traditions  to  the  contrary,  the  span 
of  human  life  was  then  just  the  same  as  it  is  to-day. 
The  wear  and  tear  and  bustle  and  excitement  and 
never-ending  worry  of  modern  society  are  not  con¬ 
ducive  to  an  extension  of  years ;  nevertheless,  in  these, 
our  times  the  Jew  shows  a  tenacity  of  life  truly  re¬ 
markable.  It  was  thought  that  the  Quaker  in  his 
calm,  unruffled  serenity,  which  nothing  can  disturb, 

[2H] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 


exceeded  the  Hebrew  in  length  of  years,  but  this  has 
been  disproved.  Reliable  statistics  justify  the  con¬ 
clusion  of  the  learned  French  physician,  Dr.  M. 
Levy,  that,  while  the  average  term  of  life  among 
the  Gentiles  is  twenty-six  years,  among  the  Jews  it 
is  thirty-seven.  The  life  insurance  companies  who 
have  made  the  science  of  statistics  a  profession,  as 
the  basis  of  commercial  computation,  will  tell  you 
that  the  life  of  the  average  Jew  is  more  than  forty 
per  cent,  more  valuable  than  that  of  any  other  people, 
not  even  excepting  Quakers  and  preachers.  Jews  and 
preachers  are  always  considered  good  64  risks  ”  by 
the  companies. 

A  writer  in  the  Western  Medical  Review  declares 
that  in  spite  of  the  social  conditions  which  surround 
the  mass  of  the  Hebrew  population  of  the  world,  and 
especially  in  the  large  cities  of  America,  where  they 
form  a  goodly  percentage  of  the  population,  the 
death-rate  among  the  Jewish  inhabitants  is  but  little 
over  half  of  that  of  the  American  population.  Pro¬ 
fessor  William  Z.  Ripley,  in  his  papers  on  the 
racial  geography  of  Europe,  in  the  Popular  Science 
Monthly ,  discusses  the  question  very  fully.  He  states 
that  if  two  groups  of  one  hundred  infants  each,  one 
Jewish  and  one  of  average  American  parentage,  be 
born  upon  the  same  day,  one-half  the  Jews  will  not 

[213] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

succumb  to  diseases  before  the  expiration  of  seventy- 
one  years.  According  to  Lombroso,  of  1000  Jews 
bom,  SIT  die  before  the  age  of  seven  years,  while  453 
Christians,  more  than  twice  as  many,  are  likely  to 
die  within  the  same  period.  In  London,  according  to 
the  testimony  of  Dr.  Behrend,  consumption  is  less 
frequent  among  the  Jews  in  the  most  squalid  dens 
of  Whitechapel  than  among  the  Christians. 

Perhaps  the  great  immunity  of  the  Jew  from 
zymotic  diseases  and  many  other  kindred  evils  which 
afflict  the  Gentiles  may  be  attributed  to  cleanliness. 
Cleanliness!  No  doubt  Christian  readers  will  open 
their  eyes  and  stare  at  this  word,  consider  it  even 
grotesque  when  applied  to  a  Jew.  Memory  will  recall 
the  sights  of  squalour  and  filth  witnessed  in  the  dark 
labyrinths  of  the  foul-smelling  Ghettos  in  the  con¬ 
gested  districts  of  New  York  and  London,  of  Paris 
and  Berlin,  of  Vienna  and  Moscow  and  the  other 
great  human  hives  where  the  children  of  Israel  crowd 
together  like  sheep  in  an  unventilated  pen.  They  will 
picture  to  themselves  the  gaunt,  sallow,  corpse-like 
men  they  see  passing  along  the  streets,  clothed  in  tat¬ 
ters,  encrusted  in  dirt,  bargaining  for  old,  cast-off 
clothes  (o’  cas’  co’)  no  matter  by  whom  worn,  which 
they  take  and  try  to  renew  in  some  vermin-infested 
basement  or  cellar  where  the  air  is  reeking  with  all 

[213] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 


sorts  of  foul  odours,  and  where  the  bacilli  of  every 
conceivable  disease  have  made  their  home.  But  withal, 
and  his  physical  appearance,  and  it  is  this  very 
the  Jew  is  clean.  He  is  clean  despite  his  surroundings 
cleanliness  which,  as  we  have  said,  probably  renders 
him  immune  from  the  bacteria  and  germs  of  his 
environment. 

In  regard  to  personal  cleanliness,  we  cannot  go 
altogether  by  appearance,  we  must  take  in  and  con¬ 
sider  the  work  and  the  surroundings.  Many  a  black¬ 
smith  at  his  anvil,  covered  with  grit  and  grime  and 
sweat,  is  cleaner  by  far  than  many  a  scented  band-box 
dandy  strutting  along  the  fashionable  throughfares, 
sucking  an  ivory-headed  cane,  sporting  a  monocle  and 
ogling  the  ladies.  So  with  the  Jews.  Many  a  dirty- 
looking  Jew  is  cleaner  than  a  clean-looking  Gentile. 
The  Jew  is  extremely  fond  of  soap  and  water  under 
all  circumstances;  especially  has  he  a  fondness  for 
the  latter.  Whenever  he  gets  an  opportunity  to  take 
a  bath  he  takes  one.  During  summer  the  public  baths 
are  patronised  by  no  people  so  much  as  by  the  Jews. 
Men,  women,  and  children  surround  them  at  all  hours 
anxiously  awaiting  their  turn.  At  home,  if  at  all 
possible,  the  Jew  has  his  bath.  No  matter  how  small 
his  apartments,  he  reserves  a  space  for  his  ablutions. 
If  there  is  not  a  separate  bathroom  he  buys  a  sheet- 

[214] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

iron  receptacle  and  makes  it  suffice,  for  as  he  will  tell 
you,  a  bath  he  must  have  at  least  once  a  week.  There 
are  Gentiles  who  do  not  take  a  bath  once  a  month 
or  even  once  a  year. 

The  orthodox  Jew  also  cuts  his  finger  nails  and  toe 
nails  once  a  week,  for  according  to  the  Rabbinical 
teaching,  the  dirt  beneath  contains  evil  spirits.  This 
is  a  practice  in  which  the  Christian  would  do  well  to 
take  the  poor  Hebrew  as  an  exemplar,  for  though  the 
dirt  beneath  the  nails  may  not  contain  evil  spirits,  it 
is  certainly  likely  to  contain  germs,  and  besides  is 
most  unsightly. 

As  soon  as  the  orthodox  Jew  gets  out  of  bed  in  the 
morning,  he  must  not  take  more  than  four  steps  until 
he  washes  his  face  and  hands ;  he  must  also  wash  his 
hands  before  and  after  each  meal,  as  well  as  rinse  his 
mouth.  These  habits  are  very  sanitary  and  doubtless 
go  a  long  way  to  ward  off  sickness.  The  apartments 
are  also  kept  as  clean  as  possible,  even  when  they  are 
very  crowded.  A  room  is  always  kept  for  the  recep¬ 
tion  of  guests,  no  matter  how  small  the  living  space, 
and  from  this  room  the  family  excludes  itself,  so  that 
it  may  always  be  in  order.  A  bright  carpet  generally 
covers  the  floor,  but  if  it  happens  the  carpet  is  too 
expensive,  the  bare  boards  are  scrubbed  as  clean  as 
a  hound’s  tooth,  and  whatever  furniture  there  is 

[  215  ] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

shines  with  the  lustre  of  cleanliness.  The  kitchen  is 
spotless,  the  stove  or  range  is  sparkling,  and  the 
crockery  reflect  like  a  mirror.  The  cooking  is  all  that 
could  be  desired  and  the  food  above  suspicion.  This 
is  another  reason  why  the  Jew  has  a  better  vitality 
and  lives  longer  than  his  Gentile  brother.  It  is  well 
known  that  Jewish  meat  is  much  cleaner  and  purer 
than  that  eaten  by  their  Christian  neighbours.  It 
must  be  fresh,  for  if  it  be  more  than  three  days  old 
it  is  not  kosher  (ritually  clean),  and  besides  it  must 
be  rinsed  in  water.  Only  healthy  animals  are  selected 
for  the  purpose  of  slaughter.  The  pure  meat  thus 
eaten  by  the  Jewish  people  has  much  to  do,  it  is 
thought,  in  keeping  at  bay  the  white  man’s  plague — 
tuberculosis.  Christians  eat  meat  from  various  ani¬ 
mals,  and  it  has  been  shown  that  the  inspection  of 
such  has  been  very  loose  and  defective.  Sometimes  it 
is  necessary  to  kill  a  dozen  hogs  before  a  sound  pair 
of  lungs  can  be  found;  therefore,  is  it  at  all  strange 
that  consumption  plays  such  direful  havoc  with  the 
eaters  of  swine  flesh?  The  orthodox  Jew  eschews  the 
swine  altogether.  There  can  be  but  little  doubt  that 
the  great  prevalence  of  consumption  among  the  Gen¬ 
tile  people  is  mainly  attributable  to  the  food-stuff’s 
they  eat,  and  among  these  the  most  dangerous  is 
the  meat  from  tuberculous  animals.  Fish  is  another 

[216] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

staple  article  of  food  among  the  Jews,  but  it  must  be 
fresh;  it  is  especially  looked  upon  as  a  dish  for  Satur¬ 
day  or  the  Sabbath. 

The  Jews  are  not  great  vegetarians;  indeed,  apart 
from  the  potato  they  eat  very  sparingly  of  any 
vegetable.  On  the  whole  they  are  small  eaters  and 
very  seldom  are  given  to  gourmandising,  for  glut¬ 
tony  among  them  is  considered  a  very  great  sin.  A 
pound  of  kosher  meat  with  a  few  potatoes  per  diem 
suffices  for  a  poor  family  of  father,  mother,  and  sev¬ 
eral  children,  and  when  meat  is  out  of  their  reach  they 
can  live  on  herring,  bread,  and  tea  just  as  well. 

The  only  reason  for  the  impression  that  has  gone 
abroad  as  to  the  JewT,s  uncleanliness  is  that  the 
Ghettos  are,  in  all  cases,  situated  in  the  meanest,  most 
squalid  parts  of  the  cities,  and  that  here  the  Jews  are 
compelled  to  herd  together.  There  is  no  question  that 
the  children  of  the  old  faith  love  to  band  together 
and  stick  by  one  another,  hence  the  Ghetto  conges¬ 
tion.  But  the  filth  of  the  Ghetto  is  not  at  all  to  be 
attributed  to  the  Jewrs,  who  try  to  keep  their  persons 
and  homes  as  clean  as  possible — ’tis  the  fault  of  the 
city.  The  city  is  to  blame  for  the  tenement  rookeries, 
it  is  to  blame  for  the  defective  sanitation,  it  is  to 
blame  for  the  dirty  streets  on  which  it  allows  nui¬ 
sances  to  accumulate  which  would  not  be  tolerated  in 

[  217  ] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

any  other  quarter.  In  this  way  the  innocent  Jews 
have  to  bear  the  calumny  of  uncleanliness  for  the 
guilty  city. 

The  history  of  Israel,  as  regards  criminology,  has 
been  an  almost  stainless  record  until  within  recent 
time.  Thirty  or  forty  years  back,  the  conviction  of 
a  Jew  for  felony  was  almost  an  unheard-of  procedure 
in  criminal  jurisprudence,  but  to-day  there  are 
offenders  among  the  race  of  Israel  in  all  countries, 
and  Jewish  convicts  are  behind  the  bars  of  every 
large  penitentiary  in  the  world.  There  are  few 
prisons  or  penal  institutions  on  the  American  con¬ 
tinent  without  Hebrews  on  their  roll  of  infamy.  The 
cause  of  this  deterioration  in  the  civil  morality  of 
the  race  is  not  far  to  seek.  Keep  the  Jew  from  the 
corrupting  influences  of  the  congested  centres  of  the 
cities  and  he  will  remain  a  law-abiding  citizen  of  his 
country  from  boyhood  to  the  grave,  but  bring  him 
into  the  places  where  he  sees  a  premium  put  upon 
crime,  where  he  sees  vice  often  rewarded  and  virtue 
thrown  in  the  shade,  where  he  sees  even  men  of  his 
own  race  and  faith  prostituting  themselves,  as  many 
do,  in  adoration  of  the  golden  calf,  breaking  ever}' 
commandment  which  Jehovah  gave  to  Moses  on 
Sinai’s  sacred  mount,  do  you  wonder  that  he,  too,  will 
waver  in  the  faith,  grow  weak,  and  succumb  to  the 

[218] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

temptation  that  often  leads  to  the  portals  of  a  prison 
and  the  felon’s  cell? 

The  Jews  can  be  corrupted  just  the  same  as  any 
other  people — they  are  human  and  have  human  weak¬ 
nesses.  It  is  hard  to  touch  pitch  and  remain  unde¬ 
filed.  The  moth  singes  his  wings  when  he  gets  too 
near  the  flame.  Once  the  American  Indian  was  among 
the  finest  specimens  of  physical  manhood  on  God’s 
footstool,  conscious  of  his  strength,  noble  in  his 
courage,  immovable  in  his  purpose,  determined  in  his 
convictions.  To-day  he  is  weak  both  physically  and 
mentally,  vacillating,  wavering,  unsteady,  even  cow¬ 
ardly.  What  brought  about  the  degeneration?  Inter¬ 
course  with  the  white  men  degraded  the  red  men  and 
brought  them  down  from  their  high  pedestal  of  man¬ 
hood  to  a  level  with  their  exemplars  in  vice.  So  it  was 
the  coming  to  the  cities  that  made  the  Jews  criminals. 
They  were  not  criminals  by  instinct,  but  they  became 
criminal  by  example.  To-day  you  will  find  Jews 
guilty  of  almost  every  crime  in  the  Decalogue,  from 
theft  to  murder,  though  it  is  but  seldom  the  latter 
crime  is  perpetrated. 

Forgery  is  a  common  misdemeanour  among  the 
race,  followed  closely  by  grand  larceny.  Of  late  gam¬ 
bling  has  been  very  much  on  the  increase,  and  it  is  not 
uncommon  now  to  find  Jews  running  pool-parlours, 

[219] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

faro  rooms,  roulette  joints,  and  other  chance  resorts 
under  the  ban  of  the  law.  Environment  damned 
the  Jew  in  the  great  cities  such  as  London  and  New 
York.  In  the  latter  city  he  saw  men  making  fortunes 
by  crooked  methods  and  not  alone  getting  off  with 
their  ill-gotten  gains,  but  receiving  homage  and  re¬ 
spect  for  their  cleverness.  In  the  old  days,  under  the 
Tammany  regime,  when  crime  walked  rampant  on 
our  streets  and  no  one  had  dared  to  stop  the  monster 
in  his  progress,  every  rascal  was  out  for  as  much 
44  boodle  ”  as  he  could  get,  and  the  poor  Jew  was  too 
weak,  too  human  to  resist  the  temptation  to  get  a 
part  of  the  swag,  and  so  he  was  drawn  into  the  mael¬ 
strom  of  vice.  At  that  time  the  lower  East  Side, 
where  the  Jews’  quarter  is  situated,  became  a  hotbed 
of  all  kinds  of  immorality  and  crime,  and  the  city 
might  as  well  have  had  no  police  force  at  all.  Law 
and  order  were  simply  defied,  while  Graft  sat  deified 
on  the  throne  of  Tammany  Hall.  The  reeking  stench 
of  brothels  and  harlotries  contaminated  the  air  and 
filled  it  with  moral  poison.  Virtue  was  bought  with 
gold  and  the  unholy  traffic  was  looked  upon  as  a  mat¬ 
ter  of  course  under  existing  circumstances.  The 
youth  of  both  sexes — the  assets  for  future  manhood 
and  future  womanhood — were  put  upon  the  market 
and  44  knocked  down  ”  to  the  highest  bidder.  These 

,  [  220  ] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 


young  men  and  maidens  were  purchased  to  act  as 
“  cadets  ”  or  runners  for  the  houses  of  ill-fame.  In 
a  short  time  the  girls  were  turned  out  44  profes¬ 
sionals  ”  on  the  streets  and  reaped  golden  harvests 
for  their  masters.  They  flaunted  their  prosperity  (?) 
in  the  faces  of  their  former  companions,  they  showed 
their  gold  and  jewels  and  fine  clothes  to  the  poor 
working  girls,  and  told  them  what  fools  they  were  to 
work  hard  from  morning  to  night  when  plenty  of 
money  and  finery  could  be  had  for  the  asking.  Their 
specious  reasoning,  with  the  devil’s  sophistries  their 
masters  had  taught  them  to  put  forward,  succeeded 
but  too  well,  and  innocence  was  caught  in  the  net  of 
vice.  Among  these  were  many  Jewish  youths  of  both 
sexes.  Before  this  time  a  Jewess  wanton  had  never 
been  seen  on  the  streets  of  New  York,  but  these  Tam¬ 
many  Universities  of  Hell  now  graduated  them  by 
the  score,  and  nowadays  it  is  not  uncommon  to  find 
a  Jewess  in  every  batch  of  44  solicitors  ”  raked  in  by 
the  police.  But  justice  must  admit  that  the  Jewish 
women  are  among  the  most  chaste  in  the  world 
when  among  their  own  race,  and  Jewish  men  are  ex¬ 
ceedingly  jealous  of  the  virtue  of  their  womanhood, 
which  they  are  ready  to  defend  with  their  lives,  if 
necessary. 

As  long  as  the  Jews  remain  true  to  the  traditions 

[2211 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

of  their  race  and  the  faith  of  their  fathers,  they  are 
able  to  rise  above  all  environment,  overcome  all  temp¬ 
tation,  resist  all  vices,  and  become  good  and  loyal 
citizens  of  the  countries  of  their  adoption — law-abid¬ 
ing,  self-respecting,  moral,  honest,  sober  and  indus¬ 
trious,  sustaining  the  proud  record  of  the  House  of 
Israel  by  being  useful  to  the  world  as  well  as  to 
themselves. 


[222] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 


Jews  claim  to  be  measured  by  the  standard  of  other  com¬ 
munities.  They  do  not  covet  undue  commendation;  but  they 
emphatically  protest  against  depreciation.  They  do  not  desire 
to  be  thought  better  than  they  actually  are.  Jews  are  but 
human  creatures,  and  therefore,  like  other  human  creatures, 
they  are  of  necessity  subject  to  the  infirmities,  frailties,  and 
errors  common  to  humanity.  They  desire  to  be  spoken  of  as 
they  are,  that  nothing  in  their  character  and  conduct  shall  be 
extenuated,  or  aught  set  down  to  them  in  malice.  Having  en¬ 
dured  from  the  wickedness  and  injustice  of  mankind  more 
than  eighteen  centuries  of  suffering;  having  more  particularly 
in  the  barbarous  Middle  Ages  been  subject  to  every  conceiv¬ 
able  phase  of  wrong  and  misery;  to  oppressive  and  restrictive 
laws;  to  usurious  imposts  from  royal  and  noble  robbers;  to 
the  exceptional  disadvantages  of  being  forced  for  many  ages 
to  pursue,  in  order  to  sustain  life,  many  avocations  calculated 
to  degrade  and  depress  the  human  character,  it  should  strike 
all  men  of  an  impartial  and  unfettered  judgment,  who  reflect 
seriously  on  the  subject,  and  take  into  unprejudiced  consider¬ 
ation  the  tremendous  post-biblical  history  of  the  Jewish  na¬ 
tion,  as  bordering  almost  on  the  miraculous,  that  modern  Jews 
should  have  emerged  from  so  terrible  a  state  of  racial  adver¬ 
sity  and  degradation  with  so  bright  and  promising  an  aspect 
as  they  actually  present.  None  but  a  divinely  protected  people 
could  have  done  so !  It  is  an  unanswerable  demonstration  to 
persistent  traducers  of  the  Jewish  people  that  they  are  an  in¬ 
destructible  race,  and  destined,  moreover,  to  develop  in  the 
undefined  future,  the  yet  unrealised  glorious  designs  of  the 
Eternal. 

To  crush,  much  less  to  extirpate,  the  Jews,  a  people  whom 
God  graciously  selected  from  all  other  nations  as  “  His  peculiar 
treasure  ” — sinful  though  they  have  been — has  repeatedly  been 
proved  by  the  experience  of  more  than  eighteen  centuries  to 
be  impossible. — Charles  Kensington  Salaman. 


VII 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

Oliver  Wendell  Holmes,  in  his  44  Over  the  Teacups,” 
says :  44  If  the  creeds  of  mankind  would  try  to  under¬ 
stand  one  another  before  attempting  mutual  ex¬ 
termination,  they  would  be  sure  to  find  a  meaning 
in  beliefs  which  are  different  from  their  own.”  You 
never  see  a  really  big-brained  man  a  bigot — it  is  the 
man  who  thinks  himself  omniscient,  but  who  is  not. 
There  was  situated  in  the  Far  East  a  great  obelisk, 
one  side  of  it  was  white,  another  side  was  green,  an¬ 
other  blue,  and  travellers  went  and  looked  at  that 
obelisk,  but  they  did  not  walk  around  it ;  each  man 
looked  only  at  one  side,  and  when  they  met  they  got 
into  a  quarrel  about  the  colour  of  that  obelisk;  one 
man  said  it  was  white,  another  declared  it  was  green, 
and  still  another  persisted  it  was  blue,  and  when  they 
were  in  the  very  heat  of  the  controversy,  a  more  in¬ 
telligent  traveller  came  and  said,  44  Gentlemen,  I  have 
seen  that  obelisk,  too,  and  you  are  all  right  and  you 

[  225  ] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 


are  all  wrong.  Why  did  you  not  walk  around  the 
obelisk?  ” 

Look  out  for  the  man  that  never  walks  around  and 
sees  the  truth  in  its  manysidedness.  See  one  side  only, 
and  you  will  be  a  bigot,  enlarge  your  information 
and  you  will  change  your  opinion.  Is  it  not  time  we 
quit  hating  one  another  for  the  love  of  God?  A 
gamester  once,  going  to  a  cocking-main,  put  two 
roosters  in  the  same  apartment  over  night.  In  the 
morning  when  he  went  to  spur  them  for  the  fight,  he 
found  both  dead — the  one  had  killed  the  other. 
Standing  over  their  dead  bodies  the  poor  fellow  dole¬ 
fully  exclaimed:  “  What  a  pair  of  fools  not  to  know 
you  were  both  on  the  one  side !  ” 

We  are  all  on  the  same  side,  but  we  do  not  recognise 
it.  We  can  readily  agree  with  Lessing,  when  he 
makes  the  Christian  monk  say  to  the  Jewish  Nathan: 

“ .  .  .  Heaven  bless  us ! 

That  which  makes  me  to  you  a  Christian 
Makes  you  to  me  a  Jew.” 

It  was  said  of  Sydney  Smith  that  he  would  not 
read  a  book  which  he  was  to  review — reading  it  might 
prejudice  his  judgment.  When  Charles  Lamb  was 
berating  an  enemy,  someone  said  to  him,  “  Why,  you 
don’t  know  him.”  Lamb  replied,  “  I  don’t  want  to 
know  him,  for  fear  I  should  like  him.” 

[  226  ] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

Christians  and  Jews  make  ignorance  of  each  other 
a  claim  for  judgment,  and  seem  to  be  afraid  to  be¬ 
come  acquainted  for  fear  that  they  might  like  each 
other.  If  a  man  is  born  of  the  race  of  Israel  can 
you  blame  him  for  being  a  Jew?  You  might  as  well 
blame  him  for  the  colour  of  his  hair,  or  of  his  eyes, 
or  for  his  gait  in  walking.  The  Christian  has  no  right 
to  deride  the  Jew  for  his  belief,  the  Jew  has  no  right 
to  scoff  at  the  Christian  for  his  doctrine.  Nothing 
great  has  been  ever  accomplished  in  the  world  by  hate 
and  distrust,  but  all  that  is  great  and  good  owes  its 
origin  to  unity  and  mutual  love  and  trust.  God  gave 
the  commandment,  “  Love  ye  one  another,”  and  upon 
its  observance  depends  the  very  upstanding  of  the 
social  fabric,  aye,  the  foundation  of  humanity  itself. 
What  binds  together  nations  and  commonwealths  and 
cities  and  towns,  what  supports  governments  and 
politics,  what  conserves  civilisation  and  adds  to  prog¬ 
ress?  It  is  the  love  of  man  for  his  kind.  That  love 
enables  him  to  work  and  toil  and  think  and  plan  to 
make  the  world  better  and  brighter.  It  sends  the 
mariner  out  to  brave  the  perils  of  ocean,  it  accom¬ 
panies  the  explorer  to  unknown  lands  to  open  the  way 
for  commerce  and  trade,  it  uprears  the  lofty  citadel 
of  civilisation  and  points  the  tapering  spire  to 
heaven,  it  speeds  the  steam-horse  snorting  on  his 

[  227  ] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

way  over  thousands  of  miles  of  land,  bearing  cheer 
and  hope  and  comfort.  Verily 

*  Love  rules  the  world,  the  camp,  the  grove.” 

Take  it  away  and  the  sunlight  of  earth  would  be 
darkened,  the  stars  would  fall  from  their  firmament, 
and  sink  into  the  gloom  of  an  everlasting  night. 

All  mankind  is  one  family — God’s  family.  What 
matters  it  that  some  of  us  are  white,  some  black, 
others  yellow?  We  all  had  a  common  origin  and  have 
a  common  Father — God.  The  dusky-browed  savage 
of  the  South  Seas  in  his  paint  and  war-feathers,  bow¬ 
ing  down  to  stick  and  stone,  is  as  much  a  child  of 
the  Heavenly  Father  as  the  lordly  European,  polished 
and  refined  by  long  ages  of  civilisation  and  culture. 
They  are  brothers ;  we  are  all  brothers,  and  there¬ 
fore  should  have  love  for  one  another.  The  Jew  is 
brother  to  the  Christian  and  the  Christian  is  brother 
to  the  Jew.  We  may  kneel  at  different  shrines,  but 
we  pray  unto  one  God — the  God  of  Abraham,  of 
Isaac,  and  of  Jacob,  yet  for  ages  the  Christians  have 
been  persecuting  Jews  in  the  name  of  the  same  God. 
Emperors  and  kings,  presidents  and  popes,  inquisi¬ 
tors  and  reformers  have  proscribed  and  banned  the 
followers  of  Zion  in  the  name  of  Him  who  was  Him¬ 
self  a  Jew  and  who  came  to  proclaim  “  Peace  on  earth, 

[  228  ] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

good-will  to  men.”  Christian  monarchs  and  people 
have  in  bigotry  and  ignorance,  driven  forth  the  chil¬ 
dren  of  Abraham  from  their  homes,  put  a  price  upon 
their  heads,  hunted  them  as  ravening  wolves,  with 
the  sword  and  the  torch  in  the  one  hand  and  the  Cross 
and  the  Bible  in  the  other — the  Cross  the  emblem  of 
salvation,  the  Bible  written  by  Jews  as  the  rule  of 
life  for  men,  the  teachings  of  which  those  Christians 
professed  to  accept  and  follow  as  the  means  by  which 
they  could  merit  eternal  life. 

Strange  inconsistency !  to  persecute  in  the  name 
of  religion  those  who  had  given  the  religion.  The 
Jews  were  not  only  the  objects  of  hatred  by  one  sect 
of  the  Christian  church  as  time  rolled  onward,  but 
by  all  divisions  which  believed  in  the  Nazarene  and 
based  their  faith  on  the  Bible,  the  epitome  of  God’s 
law  which  the  Jews  themselves  had  enunciated.  Catho¬ 
lic  Spain,  Protestant  Germany,  Greek  Russia  massa¬ 
cred  and  murdered  Jews  while  singing  the  psalmody 
Jewish  patriarchs  and  prophets  had  written.  Oh ! 
Christianity,  what  crimes  have  been  committed  in  thy 
name!  Oliver  Cromwell  and  his  Roundheads  in  Ire¬ 
land  delighted  to  hold  little  children  on  the  point  of 
their  spears,  laughing  at  their  dying  convulsions  and 
singing  psalms  the  while ;  after  a  holocaust  of  wan¬ 
ton  slaughter,  Oliver  would  write  to  the  Parliament, 

[  229  ] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

“  The  Lord  of  Hosts  has  given  us  another  victory 
Men  went  to  the  gibbet  and  rack  in  Spain  under  the 
Inquisition  for  the  courage  of  their  convictions.  The 
Huguenots  suffered  for  their  faith  in  France,  and 
modern  history  records  many  other  religious  persecu¬ 
tions  as  senseless  as  they  were  ungodly.  Too  often  the 
Cross  has  been  held  aloft  as  the  standard  of  injustice 
and  tyranny,  and  it  is  about  time  the  holy  emblem 
was  no  longer  insulted  by  the  profanation  of  sacri- 
ligious  hands,  time  that  the  Star  of  Bethlehem  should 
shine  over  a  world  of  peace  and  love,  and  it  is  time, 
too,  that  the  Star  of  Israel  should  be  allowed  to 
ascend  to  the  zenith  of  its  effulgence  without  being 
obscured  and  eclipsed  by  the  clouds  of  bigotry  and 
the  penumbra  of  persecution,  time  that  the  curtain 
should  be  drawn  on  the  drama  of  blood,  shutting  it 
out  forever  from  the  sight  of  mankind.  The  hydra¬ 
headed  demon  of  racial  hatred  must  be  exorcised  for 
all  time  and  its  spirit  laid  deep  beneath  the  sea  of 
oblivion. 

“  Fools  rush  in  where  angels  fear  to  tread,”  and 
similarly  ignorance  places  itself  in  antagonism  to 
enlightenment.  Too  long  has  the  world  hated  those 
who  gave  the  world  its  first  lessons  in  knowledge  and 
civilisation,  too  long  have  Christians  made  war  upon 
those  who  gave  them  their  Christianity — the  Jews. 

[  230  ] 


r 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

What  is  Christianity?  Judaism  in  evolution.  Chris¬ 
tians  are  but  Jews  come  to  fruition. 

The  Christian  religion  is  intrinsically  Jewish,  as 
was  the  religion  of  Moses  and  the  patriarchs.  Its 
Founder  was  a  Jew,  born  of  a  Jewess  and  of  a  long 
line  of  Jewish  ancestry  stretching  back  to  the  Abra- 
hamic  origin  of  the  faith,  and  the  foundation  stone 
upon  which  Christianity  rests  is  the  interpretation  of 
the  sacred  words  of  Holy  Writ  as  laid  down  by  Jews 
in  the  Bible.  The  Jew  has  given  to  the  world  the 
knowledge  of  the  only,  true,  and  living  God.  He  has 
given  Moses,  who,  in  the  twelve  united  states  of 
Israel,  gave  the  world  the  first  republic,  and  whose 
laws,  after  more  than  thirty-three  hundred  years, 
form  the  basis  of  the  civilised  world’s  jurisprudence. 
Christianity’s  cradle  was  rocked  among  Jewish  tra¬ 
ditions  by  Jewish  hands;  it  lay  in  the  lap  of  Jewish 
faith  and  was  nurtured  to  a  healthy  growth  by  Jewish 
sacrifice  and  self-denial.  In  fact,  Christianity  owes 
all  it  is  or  can  ever  expect  to  be  to  the  race  of  Israel, 
which  gave  to  the  world  the  ideal  of  the  race,  Jesus 
the  Jew;  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  who  built  His  religion  on 
the  foundation  stones  of  brotherly  love,  yet  in  the 
name  of  this  same  Jesus  Jews  have  been  openly 
slaughtered,  not  for  being  guilty  of  any  crime 
against  the  moral  or  civil  code,  but  simply  because 

[231] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

they  happened  to  belong  to  the  House  of  Israel, 
adherents  of  that  faith  which  God  Himself  revealed 
to  their  first  ancestor,  Abraham. 

In  Russia,  to  celebrate  Easter,  the  Resurrection  of 
Christ,  mobs,  singing  anthems  of  praise,  swept  the 
unfortunate  Jews  through  the  streets,  outraged  their 
womanhood,  butchered  them  in  cold  blood,  then  pil¬ 
laged  and  burned  their  dwellings,  while  priestly  mur¬ 
derers  in  the  name  of  Christ  sang  Te  Deums  to  the 
Most  High  and  swung  their  unholy  censers  in  air, 
in  thankfulness  for  the  slaughter  of  their  fellow-men. 
Could  sacrilege  or  blasphemy  go  further  than  this, 
not  to  speak  of  blind  ignorance — to  thank  God  in  the 
name  of  Christ  for  murdering  His  own  44  chosen  peo¬ 
ple,”  and  with  bloody  hands  offering  such  a  sacrifice 
on  the  altar  of  Him  who  was  brother  to  the  Jews,  a 
Jew  Himself?  Christian  hatred  of  Judaism  is  in 
'  itself  a  paradox,  a  contradiction  in  terms.  As  well 
and  as  wise  to  speak  of  Catholic  hatred  for  Papists, 
or  Protestant  hatred  for  Lutherans.  In  the  persecu¬ 
tion  of  the  Jews,  Christianity  has  made  herself,  not 
alone  sinful,  but  foolish;  not  alone  wicked,  but  ridicu¬ 
lous,  for  she  has  been  pursuing  a  suicidal  course; 
when  she  was  murdering  the  Jews,  she  was  hacking 
herself  at  the  same  time. 

On  many  occasions,  in  almost  every  country, 

[  232  ] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

under  great  provocation,  the  Jew  has  shown  himself 
a  better  Christian  than  his  hypocritical  brother  who 
usurped  the  name  but  failed  to  live  up  to  its  teach¬ 
ings  or  act  in  conformity  with  that  which  it  repre¬ 
sents.  Few  people  have  been  so  true  in  spirit  to  the 
teachings  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth  as  the  Jews,  because 
Jesus  only  taught  what  they  were  accustomed  to 
accept  and  which  they  made  their  life-guide  in  all 
things.  What  Jesus  taught,  Christianity  professes 
to  believe,  but  the  Jews  both  believe  and  practise 
many  of  the  precepts  of  Jesus,  therefore  they  have 
a  better  right  to  be  called  Christians  than  the  cant¬ 
ing  hypocrites  and  whited  sepulchres  who  practice 
not  what  they  preach.  Paul,  the  Jew,  said:  “  Now, 
if  any  man  have  not  the  spirit  of  Christ,  he  is  none 
of  His.”  The  Jews  have  ever  in  their  character  ex¬ 
emplified  the  doctrine  of  non-resistance  as  taught 
by  the  Jewish  Founder  of  Christianity,  who  when  He 
was  reviled,  reviled  not  again,  and  when  smitten, 
smote  not  again.  And  who  so  often  reviled,  who  so 
often  smitten  as  the  Jews?  They  did  not  revenge 
themselves,  but  following  the  teachings  of  Him  whom 
the  Christians  call  Master,  when  struck  upon  one 
cheek  they  turned  the  other  to  the  smiters.  Yet,  let 
it  not  be  understood  that  the  Jews  were  cowards; 
when  they  turned  the  other  cheek  it  was  through  a 

[  233  ] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 


spirit  of  meekness  and  humility,  born  of  their  race 
through  the  teachings  of  the  Fathers  as  well  as  of 
Jesus.  When  occasion  requires  the  Jew  can  be  the 
bravest  of  men. 

It  is  absurd  for  Christianity  to  think  that  she  can 
upraise  new  temples  on  the  funeral  pyre  of  Judaism. 
That  funeral  pyre  she  shall  never  see,  for  just  as 
the  Israelitish  nation  had  its  origin  in  the  grey  dawn 
of  the  world’s  history,  so  shall  it  have  its  end  in 
the  last  twilight  of  time.  The  waves  of  hate  and  op¬ 
pression  and  ignorance  may  sweep  over  it,  but  the 
shattered  hulk  shall  still  float  on  o’er  the  waters  of 
time  until  it  joins  the  ocean  of  eternity. 

The  Jews  are  dead  as  a  living  nationality,  but  they 
are  as  vital  a  force  to-day  in  the  world  as  when  Solo¬ 
mon  reared  the  golden  glories  of  his  Temple  to  the 
clouds,  wherein  the  great  High  Priest  of  Israel  ap¬ 
proached  the  inner  sancutary  of  the  Holy  of  Holies 
and  offered  the  sacrifice  of  homage  and  adoration  to 
the  omnipotent  Jehovah.  Though  not  a  stone  re¬ 
mains  upon  a  stone  of  that  glorious  temple  of 
religion,  though  its  sacrificial  fires  have  been  ex¬ 
tinguished  for  over  twenty-eight  hundred  years, 
though  the  patriarchs  and  prophets  and  people  who 
worshipped  there  have  mingled  their  dust  with  that  of 
centuries,  though  their  descendants  are  wanderers 

[  234] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

and  exiles  and  expatriates  over  the  face  of  the  earth, 
with  no  land  they  can  call  their  own,  the  Jewish  peo¬ 
ple  have  never  lost  their  faith  or  their  love,  and  are 
still  as  strong  in  fealty  and  fervour  to  the  religion  of 
their  race  as  in  the  glorious  days  long  buried  in  the 
oblivion  of  time.  Though  broken,  bruised,  and  scat¬ 
tered  from  meridian  to  meridian  and  almost  from 
pole  to  pole,  they  have  preserved  for  thousands  of 
years  their  individuality  as  a  people,  their  language 
as  a  sacred  inheritance,  and  their  faith  the  most 
priceless  heritage  their  ancestors  could  bequeathe. 
Empires  and  kingdoms,  principalities  and  republics 
have  crumbled  and  passed  away,  but  the  throne  of 
Israel  still  remains,  not  indeed  as  the  seat  of  an 
earthly  government,  but  in  the  hearts  of  a  true,  loyal, 
devoted,  and  faithful  people. 

The  light  of  Israel  has  long  shone  through  the 
night  of  time,  and  though,  on  occasions,  it  has  been 
obscured,  its  brilliancy  has  ever  remained  the  same, 
to  gleam  forth  at  intervals  with  as  pure  and  holy 
and  strong  an  effulgence  as  it  did  in  the  Eastern  skies 
when  the  world  was  young  and  not  a  cloud  appeared 
above  the  horizon  to  shade  the  lustre  of  its  bright¬ 
ness.  It  is  still  shining,  but  has  deflected  its  course 
somewhat  from  the  East  to  the  West,  and  all  observa¬ 
tions  indicate  that  it  is  in  the  West,  not  the  East, 

[  235  ] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

the  Star  of  Israel  shall  reach  the  zenith  of  its  azi¬ 
muth.  The  golden  cycle  of  Judaism  is  rolling  its 
wheel  onward  to  the  Western  wTorld,  and  ’tis  there 
that  the  scattered  children  of  the  Fold  of  Judah  look 
for  the  reincarnation  of  Israel’s  hopes. 

The  Palestinian  dream  of  going  back  to  the  land 
of  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob  has  been  long  cherished 
as  a  delightful  vision  by  the  votaries  of  Zion,  but  now 
the  cry  is,  “  On  to  the  Palestine  of  the  West.”  The 
nascent  walls  of  a  new  Jerusalem  are  being  erected 
to-day,  and  on  them  the  eyes  and  the  hopes  of  Israel 
rest.  After  the  long,  dark  night  of  persecution,  of 
tyranny,  of  sorrow,  the  sunburst  of  freedom  and 
equality  is  about  to  dawn  like  a  new  aurora  over  the 
hills  and  valleys  of  the  Promised  Land — great,  glori¬ 
ous,  and  free  America. 

It  has  been  the  custom  of  Jews  in  greeting  one 
another  on  Festival  days  to  say:  “  Next  year  in 
Jerusalem,”  but  now  the  most  optimistic  of  the  race 
feel  that  the  longings  and  yearnings  of  centuries 
in  that  direction  can  never  be  realised,  and  if  they 
could,  are  no  longer  desirable.  America  now,  espec¬ 
ially  the  United  States,  is  the  Mecca  of  the  race,  the 
new  Judea  which  opens  wide  her  gates  to  let  the 
wanderers  enter  to  enjoy  the  twin  blessings  of  free¬ 
dom  and  equality.  Heine  said,  “  If  all  Europe  were 

[  236  ] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

to  become  a  prison,  America  would  still  present  a 
loop-hole  of  escape,  and,  God  be  praised!  that  loop¬ 
hole  is  larger  than  the  dungeon  itself.  America  is 
the  Zion  from  which  goes  forth  the  law.  In  America 
liberty  enlightens  the  world,  and  the  oppressed  and 
down-trodden  of  all  lands  find  a  refuge  and  a  home. 
Well  then  may  the  Jews  take  their  harps  down  from 
the  willows,  and  instead  of  sitting  by  the  banks  of 
the  Jordan  and  the  Kedron,  sit  by  the  Hudson  and 
the  Mississippi,  to  sing  their  sweet  songs  of  praise 
and  chant  the  lays  of  Zion.  In  America,  they  find,  not 
only  liberties,  but  Liberty!  ” 

In  America  the  Jew  has  a  double  claim  to  recogni¬ 
tion — the  claim  of  the  man  under  the  wide  tolerance 
of  the  twentieth  century  and  the  claim  of  the  Ameri¬ 
can  citizen  under  the  broad  spirit  of  the  American 
Constitution. 

But  though  America  acknowledges  these  claims  and 
grants  liberty  to  the  Jew,  she  nevertheless  to  a  great 
extent  denies  him  fraternity  and  equality,  which  are 
the  rights  and  prerogatives  of  every  free-born,  and 
naturalised  citizen.  As  yet  the  Jew  is  not  wholly 
looked  upon  as  a  brother,  nor  is  he  put  on  a  plane  of 
equality  with  his  Christian  fellow  men.  At  many  of 
the  clubs,  social,  professional,  and  even  political — he 
is  ostracised,  and  even  his  money  cannot  admit  him 

[  237  ] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

into  the  ranks  of  so-called  Society  which  worships 
at  the  shrine  of  the  golden  calf.  He  cannot  send  his 
children  to  the  select  private  schools  of  the  country, 
for  they  will  not  be  accepted  as  pupils,  and  often 
when  he  takes  his  seat  in  public  places  he  is  given  a 
wide  berth,  as  the  American  44  milord  ”  and  44  milady  ” 
do  not  wish  to  run  the  risk  of  social  contamination 
by  sitting  in  juxtaposition  to  a  Jew. 

The  street  gamins  are  allowed  under  the  very  noses 
of  the  police  to  insult  Jews  with  impunity  in  public 
and  hurl  at  them  all  sorts  of  vile  epithets  and  oppro¬ 
brious  names,  the  chief  appellation  of  contumely  be¬ 
ing  44  sheeny.”  This  word  seems  to  be  a  corruption 
of  the  German  schinder ,  an  usurer  or  extortionist, 
and  as  we  have  seen,  is  no  more  applicable  to  a  Jew 
than  a  Christian.  Often  Hebrew  peddlers  and  small 
merchants  have  had  their  wares  scattered  over  the 
streets  by  evil-disposed  boys  and  could  get  no  redress 
from  either  police  or  law. 

On  the  stage  the  Jew  is  caricatured,  burlesqued, 
and  lampooned,  his  speech,  manners,  and  habits 
parodied  and  held  up  to  ridicule,  while  the  audience 
howls  its  approval  in  shrieks  of  delight.  Even  Jews 
themselves  join  with  Christians  in  applauding  these 
insults  to  their  race,  and  it  is  no  uncommon  sight 
to  see  J ews  at  the  cheap  theatres  and  vaudeville  houses 

[  238  ] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

vociferously  encouraging  Christian  actors  to  deride 
and  mock  their  own  people  by  all  kinds  of  grotesque 
and  disgusting  representations  of  Jewish  life  and 
character.  How  can  a  man  command  the  respect  of 
others  if  he  does  not  respect  himself?  In  like  manner, 
how  can  a  race  of  people  expect  encouragement  and 
respect  when  it  laughs  at  its  own  degradation?  It 
would  be  well  for  the  Jews  to  take  example  from  the 
Irish  in  this  matter.  The  Irish  hooted  and  pelted  the 
vilifiers  and  traducers  of  their  country  off  the  stage, 
so  that  the  comic  Irishman  of  the  boards  has  been 
relegated  to  the  past,  never  to  be  resurrected.  The 
Hebrews  could  accomplish  the  same,  if  by  concerted 
action  they  would  chase  from  before  the  footlights 
the  cheap  artists  who  pander  to  the  depravity  and 
vitiated  tastes  of  the  mobs,  by  holding  up  their  people 
and  religion  to  scorn.  Wealthy  Jews  are  much  to 
blame  for  the  hoodlumism  that  is  permitted  to  insult 
their  race.  They  very  easily  could  take  steps  to 
stamp  it  out  in  such  an  effective  manner  that  it 
would  never  dare  to  lift  its  head  again.  To  a  very 
great  extent  the  Jews  in  this  country  have  the  future 
in  their  own  hands — they  can  command  respect  or 
merit  opprobrium. 

In  the  light  of  history  it  is  no  shame  to  be  a  Jew, 
and  the  Christian  who  looks  down  on  the  Jew  dis- 

[  239  ] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

plays  his  own  ignorance,  minimises  his  own  qualities, 
and  in  every  way  stultifies  himself,  yet  we  find  Chris¬ 
tians  who  claim  to  be  cultured  and  enlightened  cast¬ 
ing  aspersions  on  the  Jews  and  treating  them  as 
infinitely  beneath  them,  not  only  in  the  social,  but 
in  the  natural  scale  as  well.  Even  at  the  present  time 
in  free  America,  with  all  its  boasted  privileges,  the 
Jew  is  denied  the  rights  of  the  common  citizen,  not  to 
speak  at  all  of  the  disadvantages  under  which  he 
labours  socially,  of  which  mention  has  been  already 
made.  In  many  of  the  hotels  and  summer  resorts 
conspicuous  signs  are  displayed  bearing  such  bigoted 
inscriptions  as  “  No  Jews  Wanted,”  “  No  Jews  Need 
Apply,”  “  Dogs  Not  Taken,”  etc.  Thus  is  the  Jew 
put  on  the  level  of  a  dog.  Recently  a  most  estimable 
lady  of  the  Jewish  faith,  sister  of  a  United  States 
Senator  and  widely  known  in  the  world  of  philan¬ 
thropy  and  charity,  beloved  and  respected  by  all  who 
know  her  for  her  sterling  qualities  of  head  and  heart, 
was  turned  away  from  an  hotel  in  Atlantic  City  on 
account  of  being  a  Jewess.  The  insult  thus  given 
to  this  worthy  lady,  or  rather  to  her  friends  whom 
she  expected,  and  to  the  race  in  general,  has  spread 
a  wave  of  indignation  and  shame  throughout  this 
broad  land,  which  it  is  to  be  hoped  will  engulf  for¬ 
ever  all  racial  prejudice  and  hatred  towards  the  long- 

[  240  ] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

suffering  family  of  Israel.  A  bill  has  been  introduced 
into  the  New  York  Legislature  to  make  it  a  penal 
offence  to  discriminate  against  the  Jew  on  account 
of  his  religion  or  against  a  member  of  any  race  owing 
to  his  religious  beliefs.  An  individual  may  be  objec¬ 
tionable  in  himself,  but  that  is  no  reason  why  he 
should  be  taken  as  the  representative  of  a  class.  The 
prejudice  against  the  Jew  must  be  traced  to  this 
cause — one  is  made  responsible  for  all  and  all  are 
made  responsible  for  one.  Paul  and  Iscariot  were  both 
Jews,  yet  many  a  Christian,  while  he  remembers  the 
betrayer,  forgets  the  Apostle.  However,  the  case  of 
the  lady  at  Atlantic  City  was  not  that  of  the  innocent 
suffering  for  the  guilty,  but  a  discrimination  against 
the  Jewish  race,  and  should  be  keenly  resented  by 
enlightened  and  liberty-loving  America,  whose  watch¬ 
words  are  “  liberty,”  “  fraternity,”  “  equality.” 

Hatred  of  the  Jews  has  even  been  allowed  to  enter 
the  public  school  and  thus  poison  the  mind  of  Young 
America  at  its  fountain  source.  In  Chicago,  former 
Mayor  Harrison  had  to  send  a  request  to  the  Presi¬ 
dent  of  the  Board  of  Education,  the  result  of  which 
was  that  the  Superintendent  of  Schools  issued  in¬ 
structions  to  the  principals  of  all  the  schools  to  warn 
their  pupils  against  calling  offensive  names,  throw¬ 
ing  stones,  or  otherwise  injuring  Jewish  children. 

[  241  ] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

These  instructions  were  carried  out  by  means  of  the 
principals.  The  author  has  seen  Jewish  boys  and 
girls  go  home  from  our  public  schools  in  tears  be¬ 
cause  of  the  offensive  names  with  which  they  were 
taunted.  This  is  no  credit  to  our  institutions  of 
learning,  that  hatred  is  engendered  where  love  should 
be  inculcated.  Especially  should  the  young  be  taught 
the  maxims  of  mutual  consideration  and  forbearance, 
and  to  look  upon  one  another  as  the  units  of  a  whole 
on  whose  convergence  and  unity  depend  the  welfare 
of  the  nation. 

The  foundation  stones  of  our  great  commonwealth 
were  laid  by  men  who  differed  widely  in  race  and  re¬ 
ligion,  but  who  came  together  for  a  common  cause; 
those  stones  were  cemented  by  the  blood  of  martyrs, 
who  though  widely  divergent  in  many  respects,  shed 
their  blood  on  a  common  altar  for  a  glorious  cause, 
and  among  these  men  and  martyrs  were  many  of 
Jewish  faith.  North,  south,  east,  and  west  the  sun¬ 
light  streams  o’er  the  graves  of  Christian  and  Jewish 
dead  who  perished  that  America  might  live,  might 
take  her  place  amongst  the  nations  of  the  world,  not 
the  last  nor  the  least,  but  the  foremost  and  best, 
great,  glorious,  and  free,  invincible  and  immortal,  at 
one  and  the  same  time  the  envy  and  the  admiration  of 
the  world. 


[  242  ] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

In  the  pantheon  of  glory,  can  we  admit  the  Chris¬ 
tian  and  deny  the  Jew?  His  numbers  may  have  been 
small,  but  he  was  represented  in  proportion  to  his 
race  and  opportunities  in  the  upbuilding  of  the 
American  nation,  and  therefore  his  descendants  to¬ 
day  have  a  claim  which  honour  cannot  ignore.  And  in 
the  present,  as  in  the  past,  he  is  doing  his  share  to 
maintain  the  prestige,  uphold  the  glory,  and  spread 
the  fame  of  the  great  republic  from  sea  to  sea  and 
shore  to  shore.  Despite  the  penurious  reputation 
which  the  slanders  of  centuries  has  given  him,  his 
purse-strings  are  as  loose  to-day  as  they  were 
when  the  big-hearted  Marano,  Luis  de  Santangel, 
poured  out  his  ducats  to  enable  old  Cristobal  Colon 
to  brave  the  dangers  of  unknown  seas  in  quest  of  the 
land  which  at  a  far-off  day  was  to  open  her  gates 
to  give  a  haven  to  his  race  from  persecution  and 
oppression. 

As  America  has  given  the  Jew  a  haven,  let  her  do 
more,  let  her  take  him  to  her  breast  and  treat  him  as 
she  does  her  other  children,  and  she  will  find  that  he 
will  be  just  as  dutiful,  even  more  so.  Though  as  yet 
she  has  not  given  him  “  the  square  deal,”  he  has  not 
been  unmindful  of  the  filial  devotion  he  owes  to  her 
as  his  adopted  mother.  Lord  Macaulay  said :  “  The 
Jew  is  what  we  made  him.”  He  is  the  handiwork  of 

[  243  ] 


JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 

our  own  civilisation.  The  American  Jew  is  at  the 
present  what  America  is  making  him.  Not  his  des¬ 
tiny,  but  his  influence  for  good  or  §vil,  lies  in  her 
hands.  His  race  is  imperishable;  republics  may  rise 
and  fall,  nationalities  wither  and  decay,  but  ever  down 
the  stream  of  time  shall  sail  the  barque  of  Israel  until 
it  loses  itself  in  the  illimitable  vastness  of  eternity. 
Whether  that  barque  shall  be  freighted  with  a  pre¬ 
cious  cargo  or  not,  depends  to  a  very  great  extent  on 
the  people  of  America.  If  they  will  they  can  make  it 
valuable  and  a  blessing  to  their  nation,  or  they  can 
render  it  harmful  and  an  evil  in  the  land. 

Yes,  America  can  shape  the  future  of  the  Jew; 
she  can  show  him  kindness,  respect  his  manhood,  and 
give  him  opportunity;  in  a  word,  she  can  give  him 
justice,  and  this  is  all  he  asks.  The  oldest  civilisation 
stands  at  the  door  of  the  youngest,  and  with  sup¬ 
pliant  voice,  Zion  calls  to  Columbia  for — 

JUSTICE  TO  THE  JEW 


THE  END 


